Infiltrating the Mafia
by Sofimiscat
Summary: By the orders of the Ninth, Tsuna and his guardians have to select a whole new force for the Vongola. Easy enough right? Not when none is supposed to learn that Tsuna is the Decimo.
1. Orders

**This has been betaed by shanagi95**. Who was generous enough to do it. THANKS!

Timeline: After the Arcobaleno fights. Tsuna and Co are in High school, so roughly they are 15-16 years old.

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_**Infiltrating the Mafia**_**.**

**Chapter 1: Orders**

"So everything is ready Reborn?" Came the calm voice of the Ninth through the phone and the Hitman smirked at the air. "Of course Boss, you just need to give me the order." He was lazily sipping his preferred espresso brand, a blend from Kenya that was just the right amount of nutty and smooth. "I was surprised when I saw the blueprints. Someone improved the design?"

"Well, your memories from the future showed some weakness in the structure, so we had to improvise a bit. But I'm sure Tsunayoshi will approve," came the cheery tone from the most powerful mafia boss alive. "How is he taking High School by the way?"

"He is doing great Boss, believe me he will be overjoyed at his summer project." Smiled the Hitman, while a strange thunder could be heard in the distance, like an ominous sign of a disgrace to come, that or Lambo having another tantrum, when a series of explosions followed the thunder he decided it was the last.

* * *

The first sign was when he woke up. It was early and there were no grenades, missiles, bombs, or even a gun pointing at him. But he ignored it.

The second signal was that he managed to eat a full breakfast in relative peace; an occurrence so unlikely that was similar to winning the lottery.

The third one was a little more outrageous; Gokudera and Yamamoto had chatted, not bickered and not argued. No, they had amiably chatted about some Baseball match, for a record time of fifteen minutes. And then they had reached the school unharmed, undisturbed. Only to find that Hibari had deserted his position in favor of one of his more mild tempered underlings.

But the most outrageous warning sign was when he was seated in the middle of his classroom and he caught the big letters on the blackboard proudly announcing 'Math exam canceled' that he started to shiver and sweat. He could not ignore his now hysterical Hyper Intuition screaming at him to get his ass out of the chair and start running.

He was at the door when a whinny, high voice came through the speakers. "Ciaossu!" The sound was a dark omen of doom for him. For a while, they had been amused at the fact that after the fight against Checkerface, the Arcobaleno had won the ability to swift through their adult and babies form at will. "This is professor Rebo-Yama. I have a special announcement for the school." He had been happy for them…until he understood that it meant that Reborn now had gained two forms to torture him with.

"The classes are ending two weeks earlier this year. Since the Vongola Corp will be generously refurnishing the whole school." Tsuna grabbed his phone and started to dial frantically to his one salvation. "Ciao? Enma? Are you still in that dangerous mission in Russia? Can I go there?" He pleaded in his lowest voice and gasped when a slap to his hand sent the mobile flying to the air. "Uh, uh…" A smug Bianchi gave him a smile from where she was carrying on her back an unconscious Gokudera with a grinning Yamamoto behind.

"We are going to a trip together Tsuna," smiled Bianchi and Tsuna did the only logical thing he could do in such occasions. He ran with an agility born from his multiple near death experiences. He dodged poison cakes and pies with an enviable agility derived from pure fear.

"Get out of my way!" he screamed to the group of students blocking the door of the school. But only receive scared stares. In high school he had gained a bad reputation from the multiple series of bizarre and violent events around him and everybody proceeded to avoid the teen like the plague. That, and the strange group of dangerous looking people that always seemed to surrounded the small brunette.

Tsuna jumped in the air, but landed with the remains of his Dame's self and almost broke his ankle, but still, he managed to keep running. If he could reach the train station he might be free. One blink and he could see the gates of the school opening before him like the door to paradise before he saw something large, metallic and hard looking approaching his head.

"Running is against the school rules." Was the last thing he heard before the darkness claimed him.

When he was little he had imagined his sixteen self as a tall, strong figure. "Juudaime! Please stay still, that Hibari bastard gave you a good one." He had not imagined himself, still scrawny, still below the average height and definitely not bound to the floor of a helicopter. Wait, what? "HIEEE! Where are we?" He screamed in panic, he could see beside him an equally freaked out Gokudera, while a grinning Yamamoto tried to calm him. Not that it was working.

"Reborn!" He screamed, ignoring the pain in his head and the feeling of a hammer in his brain. "What is your plan now?" The pilot, with matching helmet, glasses and leather jacket smirked at him. "You heard Bianchi. The ninth has invited you and your guardians for the summer to Italy."

Tsuna took in the words, and stared in clear appreciation at the door of the helicopter. Even bound he had a good chance of getting his flame to work and escape. "Don't even think about it. Those ropes are anti- dying will flames." Laughed Reborn with a cackle, or it sounded like that to Tsuna's ears.

"What are you really planning?" He grumbled, while he let Gokudera helped him seat himself against the wall. "You suspended the whole school two weeks early. This is too strange even for you." It was a testament to his years of torme…training that he managed to evade the five bullets that perfectly framed his skull.

"Patience Dame-Tsuna. You will learn soon enough." He smiled widely making Tsuna shiver in horror.

Before they landed he had learned that Reborn had drugged him for the twelve hours of the flight to Italy, and that they were just a few hours from their destination. Held at gun point and under the severe eyes of Reborn he found himself dressed in a gray suit, a very ugly gray suit, with an equally gray shirt that made him look like a brick.

They landed at the top a very large building. A very large, very modern looking building. Just before they landed Gokudera grabbed him by the shoulders, with a very disgruntled expression and tears in his eyes. "Boss! Please, please be strong! We all support you, Boss!" His so called right man almost shouted in his face. "Ma, ma. I'm sure Tsuna will have fun in his special summer camp!" Grinned Yamamoto with his eternal calm tone. Which was received with a strangles scream of anger. "You baseball-freak! For the last time IT'S NOT A DAMN SUMMER CAMP!" He screamed at the other before returning to his boss. "Just hang in there boss and we will come and rescue…AGH! ANE-SAN!" The visage of Bianchi impeded the bomber from finishing his speech, but it was enough to revive his suspicions.

When they finally got off the building Bianchi took a newly unconscious Gokudera and an oblivious Yamamoto to the exit, while Reborn grabbed the bindings from Tsuna's arms and legs and finally let him crumble to the floor in a heap. "Ugh… Reborn! What is happening here?" He demanded and received an amused stare, before Reborn tossed to him a black folder. Tsuna opened it with caution, expecting an explosion or some kind of chemical weapon and found only his picture and sheet after sheet of official looking documents.

"That, is Yoshi Tsunada. Meaning it's your name Dame-Tsuna." Explained Reborn as if he was explaining that the donuts were supposed to be round or that yes, the sky is that blue thing up there. "WHAT? Reborn! No one will fall for this stupid nam…" When he found himself with not one, but two guns pointed at him he closed his mouth in a wise, lifesaving decision.

"The Ninth is building the base in Japan earlier. After he saw the important role it had on the battles in the future he decided to start building it ASAP." Reborn explained with a very pleased expression. "They are building it in the place of Merone base, and the one under the Namimori Shrine will be prepared to be eventually the half for the CEDEF and half for Fundation. Of course we will wait a little for Hibari to be ready for it."

Tsuna stared at Reborn in what he suspected was a slacked, vegetable-like stare, that almost gained him a new piercing hole in the middle of his forehead. "So, as you know a base needs Vongola members to run it. Your first official underlings Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna felt the increasingly pressing urge to run away, or plead for asylum in some foreign country. "Oh… and we are in Italy because…?" He ventured, praying, begging, and outright supplicating for his suspicious to be unfounded.

"Because… You and your guardians will choose the new members." Smiled Reborn and pointed with his gun the folder. "You will be infiltrating the main group of new candidates as one of them. But it must be absolutely a secret that you are the Decimo. NO ONE is to learn about your true identity, if they do…" He said in a threatening tone.

Tsuna was very well trained to Reborn's methods so he shuddered at the unvoiced threat. He settled to frown and gape at the other. "We have kept your face under the highest security. Only the most trusted members and allies recognize you by face. You will be searching for the most potential members and we will also use you to investigate the quality of our selection programs."

"Ah… I don't think this is a good idea…" Tried to reason the very freaked out teenager. "I CAN'T SURVIVE THIS! NO WAY!"

"You will have to, how you can be the next boss if you can't even understand your own family? Until now you have only been in contact with the most important, most powerful members. It's an invaluable opportunity to observe your family from the anonymity. You will never have this chance again. By the way, your guardians are under orders to ignore, and pretend not to know you if they ever come in contact with you, as well as all the people who knows you. So you will be by yourself. " Tsuna stared in horror at the very well thought, rational advice. "You're mad. Agh! That really hurt!" Tsuna nursed his bruised stomach and ego from the well placed kick to his stomach and glared at his adult tutor.

"It's only for three weeks and the ninth is counting on you. If they discover your identity he will be very disappointed. And _**I **_will be very, very disappointed. Do you remember what happens when I'm disappointed?" Said Reborn in a low, dangerous tone and Tsuna paled when memory after horrible memory passed through his tormented mind. "YES, YES! I won't disappoint the ninth!" He vowed in desperation.

"Good boy. Your meeting is in the basement of this building." Praised Reborn and Tsuna couldn't understand how Reborn still managed to reduce him to his whimpering pubescent self. "Ah, by the way you should hurry, because you're already late for your meeting." Laughed the Hitman; boarding the Helicopter once more. "By the way you are absolutely forbidden to use your flames. No matter what. If you do..."

Tsuna was left gaping in horror at the helicopter and launched himself to the stairs, and noticed a bright red number 39 marking the floor number. Cursing under his breath he launched himself down the stairs. He reached the basement door gasping for air and almost puking. He looked up and found a large hand grabbing him by the neck of his gray suit. "OH? Looks what we have here!" Growled, really growled, like in animal, rabid beast growl. A very large, very scary looking man.

"YOU-ARE-LATE." He pointed spitting in his face at each word, and Tsuna found himself staring and trying to make his very basic Italian to help him understand. "Uh… Sorry?" Tsuna noticed something; there was a very important thing missing in this exchange. "You're sorry? OH YOU-WILL-BE-SORRY!" There was definitely a very strange thing with this situation. When the man stared at him nose to nose, Tsuna found out that while he was slightly panicked he wasn't afraid, the ball of horror in his chest was a mere prickling.

"GO TO YOUR PLACE TRASH!" When the man tossed him to the group of men and women he found that it didn't hurt even half of the kicks of Reborn. Not even close to Lambo's grenades. He landed at the feet of a tall young man; he looked like some kind of wanted criminal. "Tch… pathetic." He said to him.

"My name is Calvino Arbore, and if I hear even one joke about it you are dead!" Barked the man, and Tsuna nodded with the rest of the group. The boss heir watched warily at the man that was clearly the one in charge. He was a giant, very muscled and with a face crisscrossed in a myriad of different scars. He was completely bald, as if obeying his name, and was dressed in a black suit, that contrasted with the gray suits that everybody was wearing.

"Now listen. You have been handpicked do the opportunity to gain an enormous honor. The Decimo is about to select his main force for the new base in Japan. And you have the opportunity to be the ones under his direct order." Excited murmurs went through the group and Tsuna noticed that the room was really packed; there were at least a hundred people there.

"In three weeks' time the Decimo himself will be evaluating you and choosing the ones he deems worthy of being under his direct orders! This is a great opportunity since you will be at the top of the ladder from the start! That is, if you survive the very hard test that the Decimo is sure to make!" Tsuna choked at the proclamation and gained the attention of the man who approached him with a menacing snarl.

"What? Are you disrespecting the Decimo you shrimp? First you're late and now you disrespect those better than you?" Asked the man and Tsuna resisted the urge to sigh. This was Reborn fault; all of his pain and misery were because of that sadist. "Ah? N-no sorry I was just very impressed…" He muttered and the man let him go and returned to his place.

"Che! As you can see there are some people here clearly unworthy of the honor of being under the command of the Tenth. But the trash will be washed away by the end of these three weeks." The man took out a remote control and pointed it to a projector.

"Ciaossu!" Tsuna flinched at the cheery tone, and an image of baby Reborn appeared in the screen under the name 'Vongola productions'. Before the song of 'The Godfather' started playing in the back. A shadow of muscled man wearing a fedora appeared on the screen. "The Mafia Boss… a leader who rules a criminal organization." Came the voice of the narrator that sounded suspiciously like the voice from adult Reborn.

Tsuna gaped at the movie. 'No! He didn't!' He thought with horror. "Able to move a number of trusted members with one hand. Willing to risk even his life for the family." The image changed to see a veritable army of shadows appear at the man's back, all of them heavily armed. Tsuna recognized this as the cheesy story that Reborn had tried to shove down his throat the first days of meeting him.

"Surrounded by the respect and admiration of all. Seen as a hero by the children of the slums." The image changed to see the man creepily hugging a group of children while some of them threw flowers and ribbons to the air. "Not this crap again…" He couldn't resist saying out loud, his mind rebelling at hearing for the second time the same propaganda.

"YOU AGAIN?" Bellowed Calvino and a giant hand grabbed him by the neck. "Hear me you boy! I don't know how you managed to be here! I don't care who is your daddy or your mommy but if you disrespect the Tenth you will be death by the end of the week!" Tsuna watched in awe as the man first was red in anger only to change rapidly to a purple and then an almost blue in anger.

"Just for you to know the Decimo is a powerful, merciless man. Who will not hesitate to have you reduced to dust if you disrespect him!" Grinned the man evilly. "WHAT?" Gasped an appalled Tsuna, he had never reduced someone to… well he had never reduced someone to dust just for disrespect… he had only done so to less than four people!

"Yes that's right! The Decimo is a man with powers and wisdom beyond his years! He is the true heir of Primo's will and with the most pure sky flame you will ever see. Of course worthless idiots like you could never understand the greatness of him!" Were those stars in his eyes? mused Tsuna in horror, was this man some kind of… fan? "He defeated the Varia when he was barely fourteen and has since then defeated all that stood in his way! He is a man among men! It's my job to present him with the best among you and not even a little idiot like you will ruin it!" Finished the man then tossing him to the floor in disgust.

Who was telling these people such lies anyway? 'Reborn', said the practical side of his moaning inner self. "Okay! You will be under training for three weeks under me! If anybody-" He said pointedly looking at Tsuna. "-is weak and has the wisdom to recognize it, leave now! You will not have another chance!" Nobody moved even though Tsuna stared with longing to the door.

"I don't have to tell you that this is a secret operation! The family has gone through many troubles to maintain the Decimo face out of the grasp of our enemies and allies alike. But his name is well known, so you better remember and learn to respect it! His name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, currently sixteen years old. Direct descendant of the first Boss and is the son of a living legend the one and only Iemitsu Sawada the leader of the CEDEF!"

Excited murmurs flooded the room, all of them seemed awed at the news and Tsuna flinched and twitched at each praises to his father.

"Your rooms are in the floor below us, you may not contact your families. If any of you leave this building without my permission I will have your hides so fast you won't even have time to scream!" The door opened and Tsuna saw another person enter the room.

"Ah! You're early! Everybody this is your other instructor." Bellowed the man and the group let out mixed sounds of awe and apprehension. "This is…"

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Who will be the other trainer?

Calvino- Bald

Arbore- roughly meaning Tree

**I would love to hear your opinions on this ;)**


	2. Obey!

I hope this doesn't disappoints, since I had so many people expecting this. PLEASE ENJOY!**  
**

**THANKS TO: **

Narutopokefan ,Soul of The World , Luzem ,taira-keimei ,Hikari1827 Lora-San, BrokenBlackCat ,ELIZABETH-of-Darkness , Anello di Tempesta ,Fionlao, shanagi95 ,xXHalfPrinceXx , hikahika

**_Yume Li_**** Was the one who guessed right XD(At least half ;)  
**

Chi-tanda, i luv Tsuna, Kitty Neko , HeavilyBrokenSpirit , liaxing , Seithr-Kairy , Raira, LifelessRaven , Kistunefighter12 , forever LuNa

**Soul Vrazy Thanks for being reviewer number ONE!**

* * *

**This has been betaed by shanagi95**. Who managed to survive through this XD kudos to the beta!

Timeline: After the Arcobaleno fights. Tsuna and Co are in High school, so roughly they are 15-16 years old.

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_**Infiltrating the Mafia**_**.**

**Chapter 2: Obey!  
**

The door opened and what Tsuna saw first was a small boot, followed by a military green cloth. He bit his lip in consternation and clasped his hand on his mouth. 'No! I'm too paranoid! There's no way…! Oh Kami-sama it's HIM!' Inner Tsuna ranted in complete panic mode, while outer Tsuna only paled and scrunched his brow.

"We are here now Kora! We finished our assignments earlier!" The blond hair, the headband, the blue sharp eyes and that bandana. And of course the baby size.

"Don't worry Collonello-sama! We are extremely honored to receive you." Gushed Calvino and Tsuna noticed that the man had a groveling side in the size of a mountain for powerful people. "Hmp! This is the group you have gathered? They look weaker than a group of cockroaches. "Agh!" Choked Tsuna at the unexpected second voice. 'LAL?! No, No AGAIN!' Inner Tsuna started running around while trying to tear off his hair, while outer Tsuna changed to a greener hue.

"AH! Is that you Lal-Mirch–sama? How delightful Madam! Are you going to assist us too?" Fawned the man and Tsuna resisted the urge vocalize his annoyance at the man. But his mind paused when Lal's eyes fixed on him and a confused frown appear on her face. His hyper intuition fired a statement in a blink 'Reborn didn't tell them about this'. He was sure; it was just like Reborn to toss people in unknown situations.

He saw Lal turning her whole face into his direction and Colonnello opening wide eyes at him, Tsuna's body moved before he could fully comprehend what he was doing. He took out something from his pocket and hurled it with a throw that would have made Yamamoto proud and teary eyed; the object landed square on Collonelo's face with a loud 'SMACK'.

He heard the shocked gasps from the crowd. And the choking noises the Vongola instructor was making. He saw the dumbfounded, wide eyed look the Arcobaleno gave to him and then to the green slipper he was holding between his fingers, a green slipper with eyes. A very recognizable Leon. 'When did he get in my pocket?!' He ran to the front ignoring the enraged Calvino and eyeing the Leon-slipper with a nervous laugh that sounded to his ears a little like crying.

"Ah! Sorry…Sorry! I'm Yoshi Tsunada sir. I'm really sorry… I-I was amazed to see an Arcobaleno and it slipped from my hands!" Colonello was looking at him with a 'WTF' face while Lal seemed torn between rage and annoyance, mouthing a quiet Reborn and Tsuna suddenly understood that the sadist had send them without informing the situation.

'REBOOOORN!' Roared an anguished 'inner Tsuna', dressed in a leather loincloth and blue paint on his face; his aura a mighty red. Outer Tsuna bowed at Colonello while turning his head to Lal's side to gesticulate wildly to her 'itsreborn'sfault! hesendmehere incognitoandnooneissupposedt o knowitsme' he mouthed and to his surprise Lal actually seemed to grasp his words.

"Hey! What are you doing here Kora? Weren't you supposed to…OUCH!" Lal bonked his partner in the head to stop his speech and grabbed him in a headlock. "What was that for? Kora! Why is Tsu…AGH! Stop punching me!"

The group looked in horrified awe how the woman grabbed a seemingly cute and little baby and tossed him through the door leaving a perfect silhouette in the wood, before following him to the back door once more. Someone in the back started whimpering at the flagrant, and heartless display of child's abuse while other commented on the perfect combination between speed and strength.

"TSUNADA!" Rumbled the trainer, his face a perfect mask of devil incarnated, eyes bloodshot, teeth bared and spit flying, his skin blotching in an interesting pattern of whites and reds. 'Inner Tsuna' ran to the caves to hide while leaving outer Tsuna to deal with the mess. "Uh…you see…I have this clumsiness…uh…Sorry?" '_puppy eyes' 'puppy eyes_' Suggested inner Tsuna from the safety of the caves but Outer Tsuna was too occupied with not screaming like a little girl to make any expression.

"First you ruin my presentation of the Decimo, and now you attack an Arcobaleno?! Are you stupid? How did you survive your infancy being such a worthless idiot?!" Tsuna once more noticed that he was not afraid of this man. Cautious? Yes. Annoyed at the spit bath? Definitely, but the fear to facing an irritated Reborn was minimal in comparison to this.

"You understand?" And now he had missed the rest of the speech, but really there was only an answer to this man. "YES! SORRY!" The door opened and Lal and Colonello walked in, both looked deeply annoyed at something. He felt someone pushed him to his knees and Tsuna had to grit his teeth to stop his defense mechanisms from breaking the hand that was pushing him from his blind side.

"Apologize to your betters you waste of space!" He heard from the man and found himself kneeling before Lal and Colonello, whom now looked beyond annoyed. "He is dead!" "Look at them! They are going to break all of his bones!" Said one man with a disturbing grin on his face. "I can't watch this!" Continued a thin teenager from the back. "He's so dead…" Came the reassuring cries from the stunned crowd.

He looked at the two Arcobaleno, silently begging to them not to blow his cover. But Colonello seemed especially enraged. Calvino pushed him with the heel of his boot, making him fell to his hands and knees and bowed his head into the floor. "Now Boy! Start begging!"

Something inside Tsuna roared at the word. 'You don't bow to anybody Dame-Tsuna, if you lower your head the whole family is bowing.' He could hear the clear and proud voice of Reborn. 'If Reborn... no! When Reborn hears of this...!' Frantically thought the teen and in a burst of inspiration he bit his tongue with as much strength he could and made it bleed slightly.

"OW. OW OW Ma tunge!" He babbled and got up to clutch his mouth in an exaggerated show of pain. Letting the blood flow through his fingers. Colonello seemed deeply amused at him. While Lal was looking more and more enraged, Tsuna hoped that she got revenge for this.

"That's enough! We have a schedule here. Tsunada! Return to your place!" Ordered Lal, her face filled with irritation? Relief?... Colonello was grinning at him at least and gave him back his Leon-slipper back. "We will talk to Reborn later…" Whispered the baby with a wink and pushed him with strange gentleness back to the group.

He could feel the disgusted, amused and mocking glances the people were giving him 'Back to Dame-Tsuna isn't?' He sighed in consternation.

"Now! This is the two Rain Arcobaleno Colonello and Lal-Mirch." Explained Calvino, clearly annoyed. "Lal-Mirch is part of the CEDEF and Colonello-san is in charge of the training in Mafia Island and a first class sniper. I didn't know that they would help us, but I'm sure the head of the CEDEF, Sawada-san was the master mind behind this wonderful idea." He gloated with a satisfied nod. "Of course he, being the wonderful father he is, is making sure that the new squadron for his son is top class! As you can see there are deep bonds between father and son!"

Tsuna was sure that his face was mirroring the ones in the two Arcobalenos' faces. A perfect 'Are you an idiot? Who the hell are you talking about?' face. Colonello was the first to recover and used his small size to hide behind Lal's cape to hide his trembling body. Trembling from laughter of course.

The crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed in wonder, and a few muttered about the 'loving and wonderful father of the Decimo'. Inner Tsuna started to apply once more his war paint, only this time it was black with bones and skulls covering his body. Outer Tsuna continued to press his tongue against the roof of his mouth to stop the bleeding.

A slightly panting Colonello reappeared and cleared his throat. "Okay! We will start the first test NOW!" He said and Tsuna felt the floor under him disappear, and the now very familiar feeling of gravity pulling at him. They were falling in a deep darkness and he barely stopped his hands from taking out his dying will pills. Not that he needed them that much these days.

He gasped and spluttered when he found himself immersed in freezing and slightly murky waters. And for once he was grateful for the swimming lessons Basil had given him the last summer. He still had all the grace of a soaked buffalo in the water, but at least he could survive in the water.

He found himself in a cavernous tunnel, some kind of artificial underground river, and it was definitely freezing. "The task is simple!" Boomed a voice from the darkness that was the ceiling. "Just swim to safety! Good luck Kora!"

Tsuna saw in irritation how nobody moved. He was well versed in the Arcobaleno twisted minds to know that when one of them told you to swim, then you better start doing it! And yet they were discussing it! "JUST MOVE IT!" Yelled Tsuna trying to rein in his panic at the black waters surrounding them, what kind of monstrous sea freak could be hiding in these waters? Knowing the Arcobaleno they could get almost anything, ANYTHING!

"Shut up loser!" Screamed one woman, who was pale and starting to shiver from the cold. Seeing her action, Tsuna frowned in confusion. Yes the water was cold, but not the freezing cold like the time when Reborn tossed him in a real frozen lake. That was**_ cold_**. "Yes! Losers like you shouldn't even be here!" Screamed another boy that was a few years older than him, accompanied by a heavy frown.

"Look! We have to move! Who knows what is in this waters!" Tsuna tried to explain, his intuition was almost poking a hole in his brain. There was certainly something under the water. He heard a few muttered 'coward' and 'idiot' comments but he continued to glare at the one who had insulted him. "Look shorty… We have to find a…KYAAAAAA!" Tsuna blinked at the very woman-like screech that the other boy let out before feeling something brushed against his leg.

"HIEEEEE! He screamed before pandemonium broke in the waters, someone pulled him from behind and almost drowned him, the group was becoming a senseless mass of panicked idiots and as it were they were easy prey to whatever was swimming under them.

"Oh! By the way, we are testing the new invention from the Vongola's research team!" Came the amused tone of Colonello.

At that moment, Tsuna caught something furry and squishy in the water, something that was trying to gnaw on his leg. He took out of the water his hands and came face to face to one of the weirdest things he had ever seen. It had the body of a chubby purple fish and a head suspiciously similar to a 'Nyan-cat'. It was almost cute, until it hissed at him, showing very pointy, large, sharp teeth, metallic teeth.

He tossed the fish-cat to the water and calmly faced the gaping crowd. "SWIM! SWIM! SWIM FOR YOUR LIVES!" He screamed and the group turned around like a well-trained group of dolphins. Before the water started to bubble in front of the group and a new group of cat-piranhas in every color started to swim at them. "KEEP GOING!" Said Tsuna. He knew this was the right direction. His hyper intuition pushing him inside.

"Are you crazy?!" Said the same annoying man, frowning alternately at him and the bank of hissing cat-piranhas. Tsuna grabbed him by the collar of his soaked suit. "Look, we have no other choice! There are more back there! And if we stay here we are going to freeze! SO MOVE IT! OUCH!" The fish were jumping around trying to bite whatever they could get their little jaws into. "SWIM!"

He was sure he had used his 'boss' tone, as named by Gokudera, because the group once more obeyed him. It was that or the panic, but they started to swim once more, trying to avoid the little biting monsters.

In front of them they heard the sound of a two small boats, Calvino and Lal Mirch appearing in front of them. "You have twenty minutes to reach the goal, before we activate the 'killing mode' of the Nyan-pi…" Tsuna gaped at the name, he was sure that there was only one 'Japanese-things' fan, who was both brilliant enough and crazy enough to build something like this. 'Spanner!' He moaned inside and for a moment contemplated to offer himself willingly to the quirky little killers

'That's it! I'm not sending him more pocky!' vowed Tsuna, staring at the flurry fishes surrounding and _playfully _nipping at them, and almost taking a chunk of flesh each time.

"HELP!" Someone screamed at the back. The majority of the group ignored the screaming and kept swimming to safety, but Tsuna and a few paused and turned around. It was the same man that had insulted and fought Tsuna's order, but right then he was flailing around with a panicked expression on his face. "HELP!" Tsuna started to swim toward him when he heard the voice from the instructor. "TSUNADA! Leave him behind! This is an individual test!" Shouted the man, looking in a bored fashion at the drowning man. "All of you! Move it!" He barked and the few who had stayed behind started swimming once more.

"You can't be serious!" Called out Tsuna, his eyes almost getting an orange glint in them. As far as he knew, he was already a member of the Vongola. And they wanted to leave him behind?!

"That is an _order_ Tsunada! Leave him alone!" The man was becoming a purple mass, and the Vongola heir was starting to be able to classify this man's annoyance in a different color for each one. Purple seemed to be slight annoyance only. "Get swimming Tsunada!"

Tsuna looked at the very enraged man before him. He should follow the orders, he wasn't supposed to raise suspicions… Reborn would be extremely mad at him…And he would torture him if he blew his cover...

_**"No**_" He said in a calm and sure voice and then turned his back to the man and dived into the bubbling waters, his truly mediocre swimming skills making the diving even more difficult, and then he saw the flock of piranhas, they were circling the recruit who was unconscious, either from fear or lack of air. Tsuna narrowed his eyes and joined his hands. If he could do it really quick it would look like just a spark.

Calvino gritted his teeth at the complete dismissal from the Tsunada kid. The only thing stopping him from jumping in the water and strangling the kid with his bare hands were the knowledge that the kid would surely be dead by now. Those piranhas were the last invention of the famous rising genius Spanner, they were the perfect death machines. He pushed the button in the controller to change the mode from 'maim' to 'kill' with an evil grin on his face and turned to the rest of the group.

"What are you looking at? KEEP SWIMMING!" He barked to the rest of the people who had remained to watch and the pale candidates started swimming, leaving behind their two partners. Then he turned around his boat and followed the swimming people.

Lal-Mirch watched the proceedings with a sigh. Apparently his boss' son was still the same naïve idiot. He didn't understand the Mafia at all. She was preparing to jump into the water; because idiot or not the kid was the Decimo, when she caught a spark of light in the waters. A very familiar spark of orange light.

She saw hundreds of small, rainbow like, ice blocks starting to float to the surface. Each fish was individually frozen and were now floating to the surface. "W-wha…? How did he…" She mumbled and saw a brown head break the surface of the water in amazement. Tsuna appeared and struggled awkwardly to reach the surface, he was dragging along an unconscious body. He panted and seemed pleased at his success. Then he froze when he caught the annoyed glare from Lal.

"Please don't tell Reborn!" Was the thing he said when he spotted her in her boat. Lal glared at the brunette. 'I really should inform him…But I'm sure he already knows' But as a punishment for his rash actions, that would serve him right. These kinds of acts were too dangerous for the future boss of the Vongola to do. Leaving him with his current ideals was very dangerous.

"I'm not helping you! If you're so intent on helping him then keep swimming Sawada!"* She screamed at him then turned her head around. She avoided the grateful eyes and the blinding smile and just growled at her own naivety.

She only turned around when the splashing finally faded away and she watched in dismay the two hundred frozen robots. Surrounding her like bath toys. 'This is going to be so much paperwork…' She had a certain Sun Arcobaleno to maim.

* * *

Meanwhile with the guardians…

Gokudera was feeling claustrophobic, a strange thing since living in Japan for so many years had make him used to enclosed spaces and low ceilings. But this was a different kind of cage; high ceiling with delicate chandeliers, expensive rugs and tapestries, intricate wood cravings on every damn furniture. Suffocating. He remembered now how much he hated this kind of place.

"GYA! Look Bakadera! I'M A MONKEY! KYAHAHAHAHA!" The storm guardian used all of his will power not to explode and made a crisp of the cow-idiot, who was now hanging upside down from an original Schonbek chandelier that probably was worth more than they could pay in ten lives. "STUPID COW! Get back down here!" He screamed and Lambo paused a second to measure the level of danger and proved once more how cows _could_ fly by launching his body through the air.

"LAMBO-SAMA AIR ATTAAAACK!" He launched several grenades one after the other. Gokudera grabbed and disarmed two, and a shadow fighting Ryohei destroyed three without noticing. While Yamamoto with his sharp reflexes, cut in half six in a blink of the eye with the help of a nearby pink duster.

Gokudera saw an extra one roll in the middle of the floor. "TURF HEAD!" He screamed pointing to the heaviest looking sofa and Ryohei helped him to throw the thing on top of the grenade and barely containing the explosion, leaving under the destroyed sofa a scorching hole in the very expensive rug.

"Ah…seems like we will have company." Laughed a cheery Yamamoto while looking at the door and Gokudera knew, not that he accepted it, but he knew that the baseball idiot had good instincts. "You think we can cover it with a sheet?"

Gokudera ignored the rain guardian with a growl and turned around searching one shadowed corner. "Chrome!" He hissed, looking at the lone illusionist, and for once wishing that Mukuro wasn't so Mafia-allergic as to refuse to come to the Vongola main headquarters.

"We need you here." He said to the mist guardian, pointing to the destroyed, previously invaluable Louis XCI couch and the smoking remains of a Persian rug. And everybody ignored the wailing Lambo that had landed inside a very heavy looking vase and was now stuck inside. "HURRY!"

* * *

When Coyote Nougat, the Ninth's storm guardian entered the room he was presented with a group of four teenagers seated one beside the other in a couch in the middle of the room and a sleeping (unconscious) child in the arms of the mist guardian. He could see at the farthest corner the cloud guardian, looking for all intents and purposes sleeping in boredom. The only sound was the calm tic-tock of the grandfather clock in the corner.

"I'm Coyote Nougat, the ninth's storm guardian. I will take you to meet your teams." Said the man in a deep voice, his neat combed hair contrasting sharply with his mechanic arm. "If you will follow me." When a scowling Hibari exited the room even before the man had finished talking, Gokudera sighed in relief.

"As the guardians you will not choose your own teams, they had been chosen by your preceptors. They are the best of the best I can assure you." They went into some kind of hangar, inside there were six groups of five people, all of them dressed in the colors of one element.

Gokudera had a very bad feeling just by looking at them.

* * *

*yes, Lal isintentionally calling him by his true name.

TBC

Sorry for the delay I'm very busy right, so I hope it wasn't too sloppy, see you soon!

I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions ;)


	3. Squashing Annoying Bugs

I can't possibly understand how you can like so much this. But I will do my best to make this worth Your time XD.

Sorry for the delay. THIS ONE WAS BETAED BY **shanagi95** let all praise thy. It was really hard work this one... sorry.

THANKS! all the favs all the follows and of course to the incredible reviewers:

**aBoastingjerK , Ana Lora, InDifferentYuki-chan, Soul of The World, Ev3rL05t, mi-chan94**

**TripOverFlatSurfaces-**(LOL I love your nick)**, SkyGem, Luzem , Usachan , forever LuNa , Connection of Complication, hikahika ,Hikari1827,xXHalfPrinceXx, Pineapple the Fourth, BrokenBlackCat , Soul Vrazy, Yuni Giglio**

YOU Make feel **VERY Motivated**! so THANKS!

* * *

I'm posting this two years from the Arcobaleno's representative battles, so I'm imagining them to be a closer unit that they were before, more used to fight together.

"bla, bla, bla"- speech

'bla, bla, bla' thoughts.

**_I_**_**nfiltrating the Mafia**_

**Chapter 3: Squashing Annoying Bugs.**

The guardians found themselves gaping at the enormous room, the gleaming floor was spotless and even the ceiling was glinting with cleanliness. Gokudera watched the teams with a calculating gaze. They were all standing proudly and a few of them couldn't hide their contempt at the new guardians of the Vongola. 'This is bad… who chose these idiots anyway?' He couldn't fault them really, Reborn had snatched them in a flash; Yamamoto, Chrome and he were still on their school uniforms and Turf top was dressed in a bright yellow short and white shirt. And Lambo…

"While the Decimo will select the main force for the Japanese base, you will be training with a small team that will be under your direct orders as guardians." said Nougat, pointing to the five groups, all of them dressed in either blue, indigo, yellow, green or purple.

Gokudera frowned when he noticed there was not a red team. "As his right hand, you will not have a team... I will explain in a moment." Said the storm guardian noticing his look but Gokudera wasn't listening anymore, he was looking in an exasperated way at something in the back of the room before cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling "HIBARI!" He screamed, and Nougat saw how the cloud guardian was already advancing in full battle mode with his tonfas glinting and his jacket flowing from a nonexistent wind.

"If you kill them I will send the paperwork to you!" Growled Gokudera and Nougat almost saw a slight, very slight, almost invisible really, nod from the cloud guardian before the teenager launched himself to the group dressed in purple, with a speed that resembled more that of a lunging predator than a human being.

Nougat went to interfere but he found himself faced with his younger counterpart. "You may be the tenth's guardians but you can't do as you please!" He saw in slight amusement as the young guardian bristled like a cat before calming himself by lighting a cigarette. "It's the tenth's orders. Hibari has his own way of doing things and the tenth believes it is all right to let him be." it was more that anybody who tried to interfere with the cloud guardian almost always ended beaten, but there was no need for anybody to know that...

Nougat frowned; 'I will inform this to the ninth'. It seemed like theDecimo wasn't firm enough to control his cloud. "I see…" He gave Gokudera six folders; each one containing all the information of the team members and faced the expecting guardians. "You will spend some time getting to know your team and the next two weeks working with them. I need to speak with the storm guardian Gokudera Hayato for a while, use that time to know your teams." He noticed the very interested gazes of the sun and rain, and the reserved glances the mist guardian was giving to her team.

"Use that time well, Gokudera will come back in a few hours for you to take you all to the place you will be living in." He continued, searching around for the suspiciously missing lightning guardian.

"You mean the camp?" Asked an excited Yamamoto and Ryohei seemed pretty interested in the answer as well. "Hey! Are you the new boxing trainer?! Oooh I see now..." Ryohei frowned and pointed a finger to the severe old man. "You're Master Pao-Pao disciple isn't?" asked Ryohei in a excited tone, and Yamamoto seemed slightly surprised at this before he gasped, as if suddenly realizing something. "Oh? I see…" His eyes went sharp and his posture firmed and Nougat almost looked approvingly at the teenager. "This isn't a baseball camp." His smile was sharp and dangerous. "It's an all-sports training camp!" He said almost grinning ear to ear, "The blue ones are my team yes? It seems we will be competing again senpai."

"EXTREEEME! There's no way you will win this time! I will have my revenge from the Christmas event!" Said a truly excited Ryohei. Nougat gaped at the pair, then he quickly looked at the only sane looking (to him) teenager in the room.

He saw the folders on the floor in disarray as if someone had read them in a hurry and then tossed aside. He continued to search and finally found the storm guardian across the room, interviewing the mist team, his hands rapidly scribbling in a small notebook while he fired question after question with a mighty glare on his face to the slightly offended teams. he nodded sharply to the last member, seemingly finished with his questioning but then he jumped to the sun group, starting to interrogate them as well.

"storm...!" he started to say but tortured screaming cut him mid-speech.

"OH DEAR MOTHER OF GOD!" He saw a purple blur flying through the air before crashing with a sickening sound onto the floor. "NOT IN THE FACE! PLE..OUGH!" The sturdy Mafiosi looked in slight appreciation the veritable carnage happening in front of him, while the cloud guardian proceeded to literally tear apart his team.

A man dressed in purple crawled away, his panic clear in his face. "YOU MONSTER, no, NO! GET AWAY!" The last man standing was a pale and shaking young man who seemed rooted to the floor with fear at the teenager that was almost two heads smaller than him. "MERCY! MERCY!" He launched himself to the floor to keep begging, or at least he tried to because Hibari caught him mid dive with a kick, sending the unfortunate man into the now smoking pile of purple clad people.

Nougat noticed how they were neatly piled one atop the other in perfectly ordered stack. "Such a weak prey you have here…" Hissed a cold voice from his back and he turned around to look at the Japanese boy who was slouching and dusting his jacket in a bored fashion. "There's no way I would take such weaklings under my orders..." There was an expression on Hibari's face that could almost be called an offended pout, if one was suicidal enough."They don't even know where Namimori is... I'm leaving." He declared before really leaving through the door and giving his back to one of the most powerful and dangerous men alive.

Before leaving the place he glared at Gokudera and muttered a final: "Tell the baby not to call me for a while." before his figure disappeared in the sunse... In the semi destroyed corridor.

"Gokudera!" Barked the storm guardian of the ninth generation of Vongola, his eyes angry. The silver haired teenager was now interviewing the rain team, and he had now not one, but three small notebooks in his hands. And some snapshots. He could see small stick notes of different colors tucked in between some pages in some kind of code.

The still too young kid, (in Nougat's eyes) came to his side with an almost black aura surrounding him. "You have a problem with the cloud guardian; he needs to be reign in. As the tenth's right hand man it is your duty to control them!" Sniffed the man and Gokudera twitched and avoided the gaze, lighting yet another cigarette. "I'm aware of that…sir. HEY! You! STOP IT!" Screamed Gokudera, once more doing a 180 degrees change of personality; from a meek young man to a ruffian. "I said stop it you damn cow, get over here!"

"KYAHAHAHA! LOOK Bakadera! I found new toys!" Lambo was almost bouncing in joy while carrying around an assorted box of multicolored, multi-shaped grenades. "YAMAMOTO! Turf Top! Stop him!" But it was too late; Lambo was now throwing into the air missile after missile. And Gokudera recognized them as the new design that Spanner had sent him a week ago. "Oh shit! Everybody DOWN!" He screamed when the grenades exploded and a wall was demolished. There were screams and chaos and dust. "GYUPA!" and flying Lambos everywhere...

"I'm going to kill you stupid cow!" screamed Gokudera, recovering the smoking remains of the folders.

A dizzy Lambo stumbled around, still carrying around the half empty box. "You stupid, stupid cow!" Gokudera grabbed the now seven years old by the arms, expertly binding him with three sets of ropes. "Where did you get this from?! Who was stupid enough to give you this?!"

"Ah that would be me... But I didn't gave those to him!" Came a lazy voice from the back and Gokudera saw a soot covered Spanner appear in the back, being followed by a much younger, but very recognizable Giannini Jr. "Oh! The Vongola Guardians are here?" Gokudera tossed the complaining Lambo to Chrome while he approached Spanner with the box full of colorful explosives.

"Tch! We all are here, even the boss!" He grumbled, still angry at being separated from his beloved boss. "Oh yes, I saw Vongola moments ago, he destroyed my new robots…" Exclaimed a pained looking Spanner, "It's going to take forever to melt that ice you know?"

"Hold on! What? When did you saw him?!" Hissed Gokudera, warily looking at the older storm guardian who was busy searching for wounded and survivors. Spanner was typing furiously on his beloved laptop and he opened it to show a small video. Gokudera could see some kind of murky waters before a guy dressed in a gray suit appeared on screen, followed by a mix between a cat and a fish that left Gokudera strangely fascinated. "Oi! You finally finished it?! They even have fur!" Exclaimed the bomber, for once admiring of the cute little killers.

He ignored the drowning man in the video until a second figure appeared on screen, a very recognizable figure. "Tenth! What the hell Spanner?!" He saw the Nyan-pi swimming around the figure and then their eyes changed from bottomless black to bright red, and launched themselves at his boss. Gokudera saw his boss avoided one by one, until he was being surrounded by the colorful fish, and then he paused and put his hand in a very familiar way. "It's that…?" Asked Gokudera and then saw how Tsuna managed to freeze all the fish in one swoop – the camera went out.

Gokudera was almost foaming at the mouth at the image and Spanner stared in worry at his computer. "What were you thinking?! Why did you activate the killing mode?!" Asked Gokudera, ready to beat the crap out of the mechanic. "I didn't. Someone else did." Said a bored Spanner, but he was frowning at the screen, he didn't like anybody messing with his inventions. "I was waiting for Shouichi to send me the restraining software. It's a good thing that Vongola froze them, because otherwise they would have become ballistics."

"Who else could have done it?" Gokudera was panicking now, did they have a traitor? Someone who was taking a chance to eliminate the Tenth? "I only gave the manual to one of the Vongola squad instructors… he must have activated it…"

"Why did you gave him unrestrained psychotic robots in the first place?!" Growled Gokudera, repeating the video over and over again, he winced at some close calls from those sharp teeth. "I don't like this… We have to contact him somehow!"

"How about this?" Spanner took out three cockroaches from his pocket and Gokudera sneered in distaste at him. "Why would I sent that vermin to the boss?!" Sneered the guardian and Spanner looked at him in silent pity.

"This is a new compact spying device we are testing, if you can get it to Vongola we may be able to communicate with him in secret." Gokudera saw the insect with slight disgust but otherwise took one to examine it; it looked and felt just like a real insect! It was a little too real for comfort. "Why making them in the form of something that everybody would stomp on?" He asked and Spanner beamed at him. "Oh! But it has sun and lighting flames on its core, so it's practically indestructible! This beauty can endure almost anything besides a nuclear bombing."

"Chrome!" Gokudera called to the illusionist who was staring at them in interest. "Yes? Is boss okay?" Asked the girl, her eyes filled with a menacing flame for once. "Did someone hurt him?" Gokudera, and all the guardians had learned to never, ever make Chrome pissed off; so he hurriedly made placating movements to stop her ire.

"No, but I don't like his status… I need you to contact Mukuro. We may need his help, and also Mukurowl." Chrome's eyes widened, if the storm guardian was voluntarily asking for Mukuro-sama's help then things were really bad. "I will contact him."

"OI! You sport duo!" Called Gokudera to the rain and sun guardians and the two of them jogged cheerily at them, they were unruffled from the explosion and even seemed even more energized. 'Perfect' thought Gokudera. "Ha, ha. This place must be really old, the walls are too weak...!" Laughed Yamamoto and Gokudera pointedly ignored the three foot, titanium reinforced walls that were in pieces around them.

"The boss is in danger! I need you to make a distraction; we need to sneak something to him!" All the present guardians stiffened at this, and even Ryohei suddenly seemed very dangerous and serious. "Where is he?" Asked Ryohei, his frown deep and dark.

"He is underground somewhere! We will locate him by the end of the day! But we have to take care of these idiots here first!" Gokudera glared at the remains of the teams, he had evaluated them and found only overinflated egos and people too full of themselves. And above of all completely immersed in the old ways. The tenth would never approve of them in Nanimori.

"What do you need?" Asked Yamamoto and Gokudera grinned at him. "Do you remember the time when Master Pao-Pao organized that test to recruit members to the boxer club?" Yamamoto's and Ryohei's eyes glinted in excitement. "Just do the same." The two of them nodded and started whispering furiously between them.

Gokudera let an evil smile bloom on his face, yes, he remembered when they had gathered, under the mysterious Master Pao-Pao orders, fifty of the most sturdiest, most dangerous Namimori's delinquents and had put them in a series of tests under the pretense of searching for members of the boxing club.

'Poor bastards…' Snickered the storm guardian remembering that day; they had not found even one member for turf top's club, but Namimori had remained completely peaceful for the whole two months. Gokudera had lovingly plastered the photo of the resulting crater in one of his journals.

"Oi! Stupid cow!" He called, staring at the bound and whimpering child on the floor. Gokudera took out from a hidden compartment on the heel of his shoe a small package. He unwrapped it and showed to the child a perfect purple sphere. It was the size of a small marble and clear like crystal, and shiny like a gem. Lambo stiffened when he caught a whiff of a grape scent, his green eyes widening and sparkling in adoration.

"This" explained Gokudera, with a sweet smile. "Is a limited edition of grape candy, it's made from the extract of a thousand grapes. Fuuta ranked it number one in most delicious grape candy." He said in a slow and sure voice, while looking at the rapidly widening eyes of the child, his mouth open and hands twitching. Lambo tried to take the candy but the other one was faster.

"Give it to Lambo! GIVE ME GIVE ME GIVE MEEEEEE!" Wailed Lambo trashing around like a fish out of water. Gokudera wrapped once more the candy and smiled at him. "There are three of them, and I will give you this one with one condition." He offered and Lambo stared suspiciously at him. "Yes?"

"I need you to hit them, with your grenades." He said pointing to the teams across the room."As many as you can." And Lambo looked over, staring cutely at the people across the room. "Do we have a deal?" Asked the storm with a mischievous smile and Lambo grinned at him in a similar fashion. "LAMBO-SAMA IS THE NUMBER ONE HITMAN!" Spanner sighed and gave the child a refill of explosives.

With a lighter heart he approached the Ninth's storm guardian and smiled benignly at him. "Sir, I spoke with the other guardians and we would like to make a little test for the new members, just to get a good understanding of their capacities." Smiled Gokudera under the heavy gaze of the older man, for a moment he could almost see an amused glint in the eyes from the Mafioso, but it disappeared in a flash.

"Of course… It's a good idea." Gokudera bowed at him and turned around. He grabbed Spanner and ordered him to get the insect ready while Chrome was seated on the floor her head lowered and eyes hid by her bangs. She opened her eyes and gasped, blinking around for a moment and the she smiled shyly at them, nodding.

"Mukuro-sama will help us… He said that he doesn't like the team they chose for me…" She said in a confused whisper, staring at the Indigo team who was staring back in almost defiance at her.

"Hey!" Whispered Yamamoto with a contagious grin. "Aren't we going to do_ 'that'_?" He asked, and Gokudera growled, he counted internally to one hundred, divided it by two point three and then proceeded to elevate it to its square. "No! We are not going to do **it**!" He growled and felt the arm of Ryohei wrapping around his neck. "No we must definitely do it! IT'S OUR EXTREEEME TRADITION!" Bellowed the second enthusiast of their little family and Gokudera considered the option of blowing off the boxer's arm, but in the end agreed just to shut them up for good.

"Fine!" He snapped with an irritated glare and pointedly glared at Chrome when she started to nervously step back, making a 'if_** I** _do it you will too!' kind of glare and dragged the flustered illusionist into the forming circle, ready to make their cheering circle.

"VONGOLA GUARDIANS FIGHT!"

They SCREAMED under the incredulous stare of the sturdy Mafiosi and the disgruntled Ninth's storm guardian. Gokudera flushed a deep red under the disbelieving stare but nodded to his fellow guardians. "Distract them as long as you can! Got it?! Chrome, they will need your illusions…" Spanner tossed at him two of the now blinking insects and Chrome took out her Vongola Box, letting out the magnificent white owl.

"Give this to boss, Mukuro-sama will guide you." She whispered, giving the owl one of the insects. "I will keep one you take the other." Said Spanner and Gokudera nodded at him. "As soon as he receives it we will synchronize them."

"Good." Approved Gokudera, and then he turned around to enjoy the 'test' with a smile eerily similar to Mukuro's.

* * *

Tsuna's arms were too heavy, the muscles on his back were burning and he wasn't sure how long he could keep his legs moving. He felt it when the body he was dragging suddenly tensed and almost made the both of them sank under the water.

"W-why? Why d-did you?" Asked the confused teenager, he was slightly older than Tsuna and he was pale from the cold and the near-death experience. "I… was drowning… I got a cramp…" Tsuna watched the complete look of misery the other had on his face and felt a spark of pity for the other. "You saved me…" He finally said, his ice blue eyes staring at Tsuna in confusion.

"Uh… yes I kind of saved you…Can you swim? We should be close enough." The other stared at him in challenge. "She called you Sawada… I remember now…" Tsuna sank under water, his lungs receiving a healthy dose of stinky waters. He came out spluttering and grabbed the other by the collar of his shirt. "No! No! She called me Tsunada! TSU! No Sawada! Who's Sawada anyway?!" Laughed Tsuna, already feeling the rope in his neck tightening. The other was looking at him with an exasperated frown.

"I know what I heard… she called you Sawada… that means…" Tsuna could almost see a cosplaying Reborn holding the rope, dressed like a medieval executioner. "That you must be…" Yes, he was dead. Reborn would kill him, after endless hours of torture and humiliation of course.

"The Decimo…" Inner Tsuna was digging a hole in the ground with a resigned face, making sure that at least, his tomb was the correct size. "You are the Decimo's brother!" Inner Tsuna fell into the hole and outer Tsuna gaped in absolute bewilderment at the other. 'Why does nobody in the mafia has any common sense?!' wailed Tsuna, while the other seemed satisfied with his lack of answer.

"I knew it… You must be the useless younger brother of the Decimo. And he must have sent you here to eliminate you!" Tsuna stared at the pointing finger, and then followed the arm to the smug face. "What?!"

"Don't try to deny it! You're too young to be here, you're… what? Thirteen?" Inner Tsuna that was in the process of climbing out of the hole seemed to reconsider his actions and got inside once more, piling the dirt atop of him. "You must be the shame of your family…! And they sent you here to prove yourself or die in the process… just like me…"

"I don't know what you are talking about! Who are you anyways!" Asked Tsuna, deeply offended at the snub to his height, it was a sensitive topic for him. "My name is Orazio Arbore…" Tsuna stared at him…'Arbore? As in…?'

"HIEEE! NO WAY!" Screamed Tsuna, flopping around like a panicked fish. The teenager before him blushed in shame and Tsuna looked at him, and really, really looked at him. Orazio was taller than him but definitely a little bit on the short size for an Italian, with tanned skin and black hair. His only notorious trait were his sharp blue eyes.

"Yes… I'm the youngest son of Calvino Arbore… and the failure of the family…." He said with a bitter laugh. "So I know how you must feel right now. That's why you seemed so shocked at the presentation of the Decimo and how you seemed so angry when he talked about the head of the CEDEF! The Decimo… he must have been abusing you for years... yeah?"

Tsuna heard a snort behind him, and turned around but didn't find anything. He was starting to realize that nobody in the mafia possessed even a shred of normal brains. "I'm sorry… I was a…jerk but you must understand that the only option here is to kill or die and you were the weakest…sorry."

The other seemed truly sincere and Tsuna resigned himself and extended a hand to the other. "Uhm… I can't tell you the truth… but could you please keep it a secret?" Tsuna pleaded. Unknown to him, with pale skin, blue tinted lips and drenched to the bone in a too large suit made him look even more young and vulnerable and the other boy instantly nodded to him.

"I-I… yes of course, come on we should be close…" They started to swim once more and fifteen minutes later they saw a bright light at the end and they found half of the group standing in a raised platform, still drenched and shivering with cold.

"Hey! Look they survived!" Said a woman and the group as one turned around to stare at the pair of struggling teens, but no one moved. Then, one large man and a young woman jumped into the cold water to help them reach the platform safely. Tsuna smiled in gratitude at the tall man, he was young but just like Gokudera he had shockingly silver hair, but unlike him, this man had olive skin and dark brown eyes. "I'm sorry for not helping you both back there… My name is Ugo. I saw you stand up to Calvino, you seem pretty brave… very stupid, but pretty brave."

Tsuna flushed at the words and let the man help him to the platform, he saw the group received them in a cold fashion; the majority of them was clearly trying to stay away from the outcasts. "Don't mind them." Whispered Ugo, clasping a hand on the slight shoulder.

"What happened here?" Asked Tsuna and the woman who helped Orazio turned around, she was also very tall and seemed very fit, with brown hair and a pair of sharp grey eyes. "Ugo insisted on waiting for you, even though he finished almost in first place…My name is Olivia, and I'm his sister…" She said smiling lightly at them. "A little while ago there were two platforms here… the other was lifted to the surface a while ago, the half who got here first was in there…"

"He is separating the good from the bad ones…" Said Orazio in a subdued tone and Tsuna flinched at the pale face of the other. 'To be the son of that man…'

The platform they were in suddenly started shaking and rose from the water, Tsuna found himself face down and into the cold floor. When he got up he noticed that they were in a slightly warmer place it was a large room, almost double the size of the first room. "Welcome back losers," Said the mocking voice of Calvino and Tsuna stared at the man, he was looking at them from a raised platform, behind him where the other half of the group, they were wearing now orange jackets, with the symbol of the sky in the arms.

"This is how things will work here!" Bellowed the man, Tsuna and Orazio were almost hid from the man's gaze by Olivia and Ugo and Tsuna was grateful to them. "Every week we will hold a test like this, at the end you have the opportunity to gain a place in the group that will be presented to the Decimo to choose from."

There were some mutterings and dismayed screams but Calvino sneered at them. "Of course you didn't think that I would present the Decimo with trash?! These three weeks are just an opportunity for you to prove your worth! We have one hundred jackets. At the end, only those in possession of a jacket will be allowed to see the Decimo, the rest of you will be put in your place as the low trash you are right now."

Orazio made a dismayed sound and hunched on himself. Tsuna glared at the man, the one who had stared coldly as his own son drowned. "You will have another two tests in the next two weeks. If you can defeat someone from the other team who has a jacket you will gain a place in the orange team. IF you fail you will remain being a gray."

"Of course we have two people less with us right now." Smirked the man and Tsuna felt himself vibrating in anger at the smugness. He felt Ugo's big hand clasping his shoulder with a warning gaze and he nodded slightly at him.

"Yes, that's right. Number 27 and number 187 are now sleeping with the fish. And…what is that?" The man was staring as indigo mist covered the room and the sound of beating wings came from above. Everybody seemed tense and ready to battle when suddenly a white owl posed itself comfortably a top of the bald head of the instructor in a regal manner, surveying the group from its high perch as if looking for something, under the disbelieving faces of the group.

Mukurowl let out a triumphant screech and launched himself through the air, gracefully avoiding the beefy hands from the instructor and the bullets from the man's gun. He circled the nervous gray group and then dived right in the middle of it like the predator it really was.

"YOU?!" Roared Calvino, pointing an accusing finger to a resigned Tsuna who had a very smug bird atop his head. The group parted around the teen, sensing the danger from the enraged instructor. "How…? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE **DEAD**!" Growled the man and then seemed even more disgruntled when he found a shaking but firm Orazio still standing beside Tsuna.

"And you too? Well... I suppose that trash tends to stick together." The owl atop Tsuna's head let out a screech and launched itself to the man, pecking and scratching him with a vengeance while Tsuna tried to stop the bird. He could feel a shiver in his back and instantly knew that half of his mist guardians was in the room with them, the bad half. 'Please don't come out Mukuro!' He begged, but knew that if Mukuro wanted he would do as he pleased regardless of Tsuna's wishes.

With a final screech Mukurowl disappeared through a wall in an impossible act and Tsuna resisted the urge to slam his head against the wall. "I knew it! From the first time I saw you I knew you will be nothing but trouble!" Growled the man, his face was covered in scratches and bleeding gazes and had some feathers stuck to his head making him look like a demented chicken.

He advanced in Tsuna's direction until he found himself face to face with the boy pointing a finger to him. "Trash like you is worthless, useless! And I will make sure that neither of you make it to the orange team! I will never allow you to disgrace the Vongola with your existence, YO-AGH! TAKE IT OFF!" Screamed the man wailing around in panic and Tsuna saw a very big and 'It's _glowing_?' cockroach on his face, gripping with admirable tenacity the man's nose. "TAKE IT OFF!"

Someone slammed a roll of papers on the man's face effectively smashing the bug and making it fall to the floor. "Stop being such a disgrace Calvino!" Came an amused voice and Tsuna saw the grown up version of Colonello, who was looking in interest at the previously 'dead' cockroach. That was now getting up and twitching its little legs around. Colonello stepped on it and ground his heel.

Three seconds passed before the insect once more started to get up and run around, with a miffed expression the Arcobaleno took out his rifle and shot once, clearly hitting the small being in the middle of it under the admiring stares of the people. Colonello smiled smugly at his defeated foe until the little insect started twitching once more.

With a growl the Arcobaleno shot the insect four more times, getting the same result to his frustration. Tsuna had seen many persistent bugs on his life but this one was beyond ridiculous. "What's this?! KORA!" The Arcobaleno took out a small missile launcher and put in on his shoulder and pressed the trigger, letting free the rocket among the rapidly panicking crowd. "TAKE THAT, KORA!" Laughed the Arcobaleno at the crater were could be seen a small and still, finally defeated enemy...

Until it twitched and got up.

"GET BACK HERE!" Colonello took out a true arsenal from his person and started to launch volley after volley against the escaping insect that ran into the panicking crowd making a veritable chaos. Tsuna remained standing among the mayhem, considering seriously whether to activate his X-burner or not. The room was filled with smoke and dust and screaming people and he felt something getting in his soaked pants and travel with amazing efficiency on his person, he trashed around like a possessed person trying to dislodge the insect. Until he heard something "Bzzt….boss?...bzzt…..Vongola?" Tsuna paused in his madness at the sounds and shivered when the insect traveled to his arm and surfaced on his palm where it seated itself on his palm looking at him.

"Boss! It's you?!" If there was a sure sign of madness, Tsuna was sure that seeing a cockroach talking in Gokudera's voice was it. "Vongola?" Came Spanners voice and Tsuna could only chuckle at the new sign on his broken mind. "Kufufufu… you should answer them little Vongola." Tsuna barely restrained his scream at the invisible voice of Mukuro. "Boss! The insect-bzzz-transmitter-touch it…ring!" Tsuna glanced around and saw that nobody seemed to look in his direction, no doubt hidden from view by Mukuro's illusions.

He took out his sky ring from the chain on his neck and touched the insect. He saw the cockroach glow a warm orange and Gokudera's voice came through more clearly. "Boss! We found you! Don't worry we will be able to communicate through this. I will call you latter! Hang in there boss!"

Tsuna stared at the now calm bug and pocketed it; he raised his head and found a fuming Calvino that seemed in the process of strangling Orazio. "Mukuro! Please cover me!" He pleaded with his mist guardian and saw a pair of mismatched eyes appear on the air. "Oya? Isn't that the boy who almost revealed your secret? It should be easier to let the oaf finish him."

Tsuna glared at the other, not even trying to argue with the other. "Please!" He repeated and saw the eyes wink in amusement at him. "Mmm?… no, I don't think so…See you later _Tsunada Yoshi_...kufufufu" Tsuna gasped at the receding mist and looked at the father and son pair, he decided in an instant.

Under the cover of a new explosion he used a scrap of his flame to appear behind the man and punched him hard in the neck before throwing him to across the room. He saw that Orazio was thankfully unconscious and everybody was still too occupied in the chaos to see anything.

"QUIETTT!" Everybody froze at the enraged roar that finished the chaos. There stood Lal in all her glorious rage. She was emanating a dark red aura of annoyance, her eyes filled with barely contained fury. Colonello paused in the middle of launching a second missile and sheepishly hid the two meter long missile launched behind his back.

"Where the hell is Calvino?!" She bellowed, her eyes promising pain and suffering to anybody that dared to oppose her. Someone in the back raised his arm and pointed to one of the walls, where there was a plastered instructor. Tsuna flinched at the image. 'Uh, oh' inner Tsuna paused in his victory dance when Lal's eyes zeroed on him for a second.

"Orange team to door one and gray team to door number two. MOVE IT!" Bellowed Lal and pointed behind her back were two doors with each number painted in bright orange appeared. Tsuna watched as a concerned Ugo grabbed a still unconscious Orazio and Olivia pushed him to the door, staring in concern at the incensed glare that Lal was giving to the brunet.

"Instructors don't like you a lot isn't?" Whispered the woman and Tsuna just nodded tiredly while fingering the insect in his pocket with longing.

'I'm not alone'

TBC

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I know everybody wants the sweet revenge, but please be patient for now... Ne? Believe me they WILL suffer.

What should we call our little bug? Suggestions anyone?

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO VOTE ON THE POLL FOR THE NAME IN MY PROFILE!


	4. Rejected

After the Representatives battle

The Arcobaleno gained the ability to change between adult/baby forms, just if you get confused.

Nothing further to add.

Thanks To Shanagi95 for betaeing this, you're amazing! All further errors are MY doing.

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Thanks to all the reviews, I'm so amazed at all of you. I really should be studying, but I managed to squeeze this chapter because you're all great!

Thanks so much for all the reviews, favs and follows XD

Thanks toreviewers: Uchiha-Sakura 193, Yume_li, Yuukilover, Kinglugia, Quinn1989, BeAShinigami, InDifferentYuki-chan (hugs to you too!) TripOverFlatSurfaces, Yuni Giglio Nero, Syrlai, Hibird666 (LObirdie of doom?) anime 550, aBoastingjerk, UnknownAlicex3, Anello di Tempesta, Luzem, Illusionisland, MyHobbyISToRunFromReality. Soul Vrazy, Otaku97, BrokenblackCat, Chi-Tanda, Harlett, Hikari1827, xHalfprincexX, CosmoTiger, codenumber6, ForeverLuna, Pinneaple the Fourth, Metue.

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For all the **names for the bug, PLEASE VOTE** on the poll on my profile to choose the name of the little guy

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**Chapter 4: Rejected**

The storm guardian sighed at the destruction around him. 'More paperwork for the boss' he mourned. But he could only glare half heartedly at the group of innocent looking teenagers. They were behaving quite nicely despite their reputation after all.

He was startled when he heard his phone coming alive in his pocket and opened it hastily when he saw just who was calling him. "Boss!" He greeted and noticed that Gokudera turned around to listen into the conversation. "Yes sir, the explosions came from here… no sir… there was no Varia involved…"

He refused to moan in anguish at the sight of the destroyed corridor. "It's… still standing boss… No, there was no caving in of the ceiling this time… everybody is safe boss… yes it was the research team again, sir… there was no monkey involved this time sir..." He sighed again; the ninth was waiting for him to report their newest incident.

He looked at the innocent – 'too innocent for the mafia' he thought – faces of the group. "Listen to me; the ninth requests my presence immediately. I will be leaving you alone just for a few minutes…" He was sure that he saw an almost predatory grin from the storm guardian, and he was sure that Spanner looked like Christmas came earlier.

"Sir." Said the other storm guardian. "Is it okay if we start the test? That way we would be finished by the time you come back." Reasoned the silver-haired teen with a contemplating look. The older storm guardian frowned at him in clear suspicion but nodded in acceptance and finally left them alone. He suppressed a shiver when he closed the door at his back, but concentrated on his report to his boss.

'I will come back soon… they wouldn't dare to do something truly destructive.' He reasoned to himself. He walked away. Leaving behind the remaining four teams and the guardians behind.

Inside the room Gokudera saw the teams approaching them, narrowing his eyes at the sneers they received now that Coyote Nougat had left.

The one who seemed to be the leader of the sun team approached them with a small frown. "So you are the new guardians?" He asked with a haughty tone. It was a very strong looking man in his mid-twenties, with wide shoulders and a heavy mustache. "I was waiting for someone more... impressive…"

Gokudera bristled like an offended cat. His green eyes alight in irritation, but Ryohei pushed him aside to look at the proud man. "Ooohh, you have the right body for a boxer! I choose you!" Said an enthusiastic Ryohei. "He is already on your team you idiot!" Growled Gokudera and someone else snorted in the back. "Boxing? I don't think that athletes should be part of the Vongola, they are too weak for this world."

"Yeah, sports are mere child's games… a waste of time if you ask me." Said one from the rain division and Gokudera suddenly felt an icy wind on his back, he turned around but only found the same idiotic grin on Yamamoto's face, although he could see the tension in his shoulders. The rain guardian was truly irritated.

"Ha ha…. Well, the mafia games are fun, but baseball is also great!" He said. The man from the blue team stared at Yamamoto in clear annoyance. "I can't believe that you defeated Squalo… Perhaps he is getting weaker? Or maybe he got too confident? Mmm?" Taunted the man, and Yamamoto almost, almost lost his smile.

"Baseball? Please! That is so stupid! Who in their right mind would waste their time in such worthless thing?" Said the same moron and Gokudera saw Yamamoto's smile sharpen a little, he swallowed at the killing aura behind him, Yamamoto's aura was hidden from normal people; even to him it was barely detectable.

"I'm sorry if we sound a bit rude… but we were waiting for…_more _from the Tenth's guardians…" Said a disgruntled woman in the back, her bright green vest marking her as part of the lighting team. Gokudera glared at her and put himself between her glare and Lambo's body. "Well… You're still little kids… And with your boss…"

"HEY! LAMBO-SAMA IS NOT A KID!" Gokudera grabbed the child by his horn and barely stopped him from blowing the new idiot to heaven.

"You have to be kidding me! You can't expect me to serve under a little girl! I heard she is under the control of that_ freak_ of the Estraneo Famiglia!" Moaned a burly man in the back, he was glaring at Chrome in loathing and Gokudera saw Ryohei's 'big brother's instincts take over. "Oi! Chrome is an EXTREME GIRL! And she is one of us!" He said with a frown, not liking the looks that some of the men were giving to Nagi.

"She looks like a useless chit to me!" Said a woman in the front, truly sneering at flushing Chrome. "Look at her she is so… weak."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Bellowed Gokudera, his glare was full at one hundred percent. He stepped forwards with his dynamites on plain sight. "We are the tenth generation Guardians of the Vongola! The tenth accepted us! And I won't let anybody question him!" Growled the teenager and saw in satisfaction some of the idiots losing their confident stances.

"Well… he may have chosen you, but he is a kid himself… and I truly can't be sure he is a good leader just for having the blood of the Primo!" Gokudera twitched at this.

"Yes!" Bellowed the Vongola's members and the guardians got closer to each other, glaring at their supposed 'teams'

"All we have are rumors and stories! Why isn't he here? Perhaps he doesn't even care about his family enough to face his new members!" Chrome glared with her one eye.

"Or maybe he is scared and hiding under his bed!" Ryohei cracked his knuckles.

"I think he is a spoiled brat! I can't see him as a worthy leader just for existing!" Lambo pouted and forgot for almost two seconds about the candy.

There was a scream and a small explosion, Gokudera saw Ryohei punching the wall and making a hole in the concrete, his glare stopping the screaming at once. "Hey! That's my little brother you're talking about!" The room was filled with tension and the two groups were on clear and opposite sides of the room, each one glaring at the other.

"Ma, ma, Senpai! I think we should try to solve this with a friendly match!" He cheered, his baseball bat swinging behind him in a wide arc. At the word 'match' Ryohei seemed to perk up in a truly puppy style. "EXTREEEEME!"

"Surely you won't have any trouble passing the test from us _kids_…?" Smirked Gokudera, and he felt Yamamoto stepping forwards, being followed by Spanner and Giannini, the last two carrying several boxes with wide grins. "…ah… of course not! We are the best of the best," said the leader from the sun team with arrogance, and his attitude seemed to make the rest agree to the test.

"Well then, let's start the **S-H-Test*** from Master Pao-Pao" Said Gokudera with a devilish grin. He motioned for the teams to go to the end of the hall and he turned around to the guardians and stared hard and long to them. "If any of you have any mercy for those idiots I'm going to blow you apart! We have to finish this before Nougat-san returns"

"Ha ha! Sure thing!"

"Hey! I'm never easy on my challengers!"

"Lambo-sama is going to get the super candy!"

"….Y-yes…"

Spanner approached them in a hurry, looking hopefully at the gathering and holding a video camera. "Would you help us test some of our new inventions?" He said with pleading eyes. "Please! For some strange reason, all our testers refused to come back after the first week." Said a hopeful Giannini and Yamamoto opened one box, he stared at the contents only to take out a small sphere molded like the face of a panda and grinned at him.

"Sure! This one is the right size to practice my pitching!" Spanner shivered at the dangerous light on his eyes but it soon passed, leaving behind just a cheery and smiling teenager. "Ah… just be sure not to hit them too close to vital organs with those…"

"Sure! Hey Senpai! Let's see who finish first, nee?" Said the rain guardian and the sun grinned at him with fire in his eyes. "Let's show them what athletes can do!" Shouted Ryohei to the slight concern to the teams.

"Shall we start then?" Asked Gokudera with a grin, and then he turned to Chrome. "Look, I know the boss wouldn't like this… but… he wouldn't like for them to insult us even less." He clasped her shoulder and nodded at her. "Don't hold back mist guardian."

"They insulted boss and Mukuro-sama…I won't hold back!" Said the girl with the eye patch, with a glare in the direction of the mist team.

"Good"

* * *

The mismatched gray group entered the door and they found themselves on a corridor filled with small doors. Tsuna and company saw Ugo waving at them from one door and they went inside.

"Well… its… gray." Said Olivia in a bored tone. Spartan was a good description for it. There were two bunker beds and a single shelve with some blankets. And more dull, gray clothes. There was a tiny door on the right side, leading to the smallest bathroom they had seen.

"Let's take a look at you. I'm a Doctor from the Vongola… I can use a little of sun flames…" Tsuna smiled gratefully at him and nodded, his head bobbing in fatigue.

"I'm going out to investigate about this place." Said Olivia after wrapping Orazio in drier clothes and changing her clothes with a lack of modesty that left a blushing Tsuna and an amused Ugo. "Thank you… for trying to protect us... I mean...before" Smiled Tsuna and the man laughed slightly.

"Well it didn't quite work out isn't it? ...you really are a trouble magnet don't you?" Stated the man in an amused tone, Tsuna just nodded sheepishly while his eyelids was closing at how tired he felt. "Mmm… yes I am…"

"But there's something about you… there is this kind of warmth coming from you... almost like a flame…" Mused the man, as if thinking to himself and Tsuna instantly woke up from his semi-comatose state. The man's flame was weak but steady and gentle and his wounds were closing nicely. "Well… don't worry, we might never make you join the orange team but we will make sure that you get out of this alive." Said the man with a reassuring tone.

"We?" Asked a bewildered Tsuna and the man pointed to a sleeping Orazio. "Yes, we. Didn't you see how he stood up to the instructor for you, even though he seemed pretty terrified? I say you got yourself a friend in him." Tsuna blinked at him and then at the guy in the bed and snorted. Why did he always pick up problematic people?

"I'm going out to help Olivia. Don't leave the room!" Called Ugo and Tsuna found himself alone with Orazio in the depressing room. He changed from his stiff clothes and put on the gray sweatshirts and pants he found, noticing immediately that they were two sizes too big. Frowning, he used his soaked belt to make his pants stay on and found the insect from before.

He turned his head around searching for someone and only found Orazio still sleeping soundly. He cupped the small thing with a shiver of revulsion, since it was a little too realistic for his tastes, but he got as close as he could manage. "Uh… hello?" He asked with a whisper, feeling very foolish at whispering to a bug, but he did it nonetheless.

With a burst of inspiration he lighted up the point of his finger with his flame and touched the bug, and it started to glow like a firefly. He jumped in the air when sounds began to come out from it, sounds more belonging to a horror movie than to a innocent bug.

**'KABOOM'**

"KYAAAA!"

"Agh!"

**'CRASH**'

"My leg…! I CANT FEEL MY LEG!"

"W-what is that?! Oh… OH?**OH NO!**"

Tsuna stared in mute horror to the cockroach. "Get away!" someone was screaming in clear desperation, then 'BOOM'. Tsuna remembered the war-time radio broadcasts, all that was lacking was the brave reporter in the back. "AAAAHHHH"

There was a lot of screaming and explosions on the other side, alarmed, he whispered urgently to the bug. "Gokudera-kun! GOKUDERA KUN! What is going on there?! Are they attacking you?!" There was a lot of fumbling and some cursing on the other side, before the noises diminished a little as if someone was covering the insect with a piece of cloth, trying to (hopelessly) hide the noise, before the slightly wavering voice from Gokudera came through. "B-Boss?! It's that you? Are you okay?!"

Tsuna tried to get closer to the insect, it was difficult to remain so close from the too realistic bug thought. He could hear explosions in the back, and if he really concentrated he was sure that someone was whimpering in either fear or pain 'or maybe both.' He heard the unmistakable sound of concrete being demolished and more screaming.

"Come on! You're not even holding the bat in the right way!" Came the voice from Yamamoto, before Tsuna heard a panicked voice screaming and the sound of something breaking. "Gokudera?!" Asked an alarmed Tsuna. "Yes boss?" Responded a too innocent sound storm guardian.

"Please, please tell me you're not letting Yamamoto throw balls to innocent people again… are you?" Questioned the Vongola Decimo and then he listened to the too long silence that followed his question. "Boss… I promise you that Yamamoto is definitely not throwing _balls_, to any _innocent _people. He is just sharing his Japanese heritage to the locals…" Answered the Storm guardian, but Tsuna could swear that the screaming in the back was not from either joy or appreciation.

"**Ohh**! **Kangaryuu! That was awesome! Do it once more to the EXTREME!"**

"**Please NOOOOO!"**

Tsuna felt his dread mounting higher than the Everest, he was pretty sure that putting Kangaryuu and Ryohei in the same sentence was equal to chaos. "Gokudera-kun… was that…?" Asked Tsuna in a small voice, already imagining his sun guardian in the middle of a crater. "Oh don't worry tenth, that is just turf-top training with his box-weapon. The poor animal needed to exercise a bit… you know how he gets otherwise…"

Tsuna frowned at that when he felt someone at his back."Who are you talking to?" Asked a groggy voice. "HIEEEE!" It was a testament to Reborn's training that the Vongola heir reacted faster than a a psychotic snake, he turned around, grabbed his assailant by the arm and used their combined weight to slam the offender into the floor with a disturbing crunch. "Oh no!" Moaned Tsuna, watching the crumbled body of Orazio in the floor, completely knocked out. "Boss! Is everything all right?!" Came the worried voice from Gokudera.

"Gokudera-kun! I think I _killed_ HIM!" Screamed Tsuna in a panicked voice, grabbing the small insect for dear life. There was a long pause from the other side before his trusted friend answered in a calm tone. "Oh? You want me to send someone to clean up boss?"

"NO!" Tsuna groaned and checked the boy in the floor, he noticed that he was still breathing. But he would need to wait to see if he had turned the other into a vegetable. Tsuna grabbed the other and deposited him once more to the bed, praying for him to be alright.  
He was in the process of coming back when he heard more screaming coming from the Cockroach. It sounded creepy, really creepy.

"MY EYES!" Wailed a pained voice in the back, it sounded as if the person had just watched the most horrifying, traumatic vision of his life. "Where I am… mommy…? It's dark…_too dark_…" Mumbled another voice in a lost and hollow voice and Tsuna shivered in dread. "And those…?" Questioned the brunette, hearing more pained sobbing in the back.

"Oh… Well, Chrome is just… helping some people she met here with some personal problems… I promise you they are _physically _fine." Cheered Gokudera in a tone that was a little too bright for Tsuna's mind. "Gokudera-kun… Are you sure that everything is alright there…? Really sure?"

"Haha… of course Boss! But you know how the idiots can be too loud; hold on a second boss…" Tsuna flinched as the barrier that dampened the sounds came down and he continued to hear a lot of mayhem, it was like a war movie, no, the apocalypses on live.

"HEY! Cut it down! I'm talking with **the TENTH!"**

Tsuna yelped and covered the insect, wearily looking at his unconscious roommate and whispered to the bug. "Please don't call me boss, Tenth or by my name… I have to remain incognito Gokudera! Is everybody alright over there? Is someone hurt?" There was a long pause at his question and he frowned at the bug worriedly. "Gokudera?"Tsuna pressed, uncomfortable with the lack of an answer.

"None of the _guardians is_ injured Ten… ah!... SORRY! What should I call you?" Came the slightly guilty voice from Gokudera, his hyper intuition was detecting a slight wavering in the other's voice. "Yoshi… call me Yoshi…Gokudera-kun _What did you do now_?" He asked in a tired tone and then heard the sharp intake of breath from Gokudera.

"Uhm… Just a few tests over here bos-I mean Yoshi-sama!." Tsuna groaned at the words. "Please tell me you didn't destroy the building." He pleaded, staring around at his current prison in desperation.

"It's still standing boss...!?...Oh fuc…I mean… nothing wrong here boss! And by the way the stupid Spanner apologizes for his malfunctioning fishes." There was a mighty roar in the back followed by more panicked screams that left Tsuna almost shaking with stress, before Gokudera's voice came back; and he sounded winded. "Please be careful over there, there's something not seems right with this whole thing. We will remain in contact through that insect so please don't lose it."

Tsuna resisted the urge to demand answers and just sighed. "Thank you… Please be careful over there. I'm counting on you Gokudera-kun." He said to his guardian and Gokudera choked at the words. Tsuna smiled at his friend's joy until he heard more screams in the back. And several explosions sounds that were anything but normal. It was as if someone had given Lambo a box full of explosive and then let him loose. 'But no one would be _so _stupid… right?' Thought Tsuna in a slightly despairing mode. "Gokudera? What was _that_?" Asked Tsuna warily, "Is that Gyuudon I'm hearing?!"

"N-no boss! Just stay safe and I will call you in the nights to check on you!" Came the slightly panicked face of his storm guardian before the communication ended, leaving behind a more than worried Tsuna. He stared at the small robot insect that stared back with his diminutive little eyes, he was starting to lose his disgust for the little guy; it was actually kind of inoffensive looking.

"HIEEEEE!" Until the bug launched itself to his head to hide on his tick and now dry hair. Tsuna was trying to pull it off when the door opened and Olivia and Ugo came back staring at the screaming teenager with a concerned stare. Tsuna gave them a shaky smile. "Uh… there was a mouse?" was the intelligent and fast alibi from the mafia boss in training.

* * *

Being a Vongola Guardian for close to twenty years had made Coyote Nougat the equal to a hard war veteran: A sturdy man that didn't flinch at the sight of destruction and chaos.

"WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS HAPPENED IN HERE!" And above of all, someone who could boast to have seen some of the worst horrors known to men. But what was now before his eyes was too terrible to be put in words. Where was once a perfect functional, triple-reinforced training room, was only the sad remains of a war zone now.

No, not a war zone, it was the result of combining a hurricane and an earthquake and tossing in two or three bombs just for the hell of it. He had left the room for a mere fifteen minutes, only to go back and find the room covered in rubble, smoking craters, and devoid of life apart from the tenth generation guardians.

He stared at the innocent faces and large eyes. They were all calm and collected, too calm and collected. Even the Bovino child was calm. In fact the Bovino child was seated on the floor smiling with an absent expression on his face, a wide and stupid smile on his face, as if he just had the most glorious experience in his young life, and there was a smear of purple on his cheeks and hands.

"What happened here?" He asked in a breathless voice, almost hoping that they had been attacked by another family.

"Sir… we might have a slight problem…" Said a hesitant storm guardian, extending to him a series of crumpled papers. He could see several signatures on them, some of them almost illegible. 'Is that a bloody print?' he took the papers with a concerned glare.

"We tried to stop them, but they all resigned…" Said a morose Ryohei, from all of them he was the one who looked down the most. "And now that I finally had some boxing members…" Lamented the sun guardian with what seemed to be true regret, and the guardian of the rain gave him a consoling pat in the back, trying to cheer him up with a quiet "Cheer up...! Maybe next time sempai…"

"What?!" Nougat read the papers in a hurry and found sheet after sheet filled with pleads, truly pleading and begging to be let out of the Decimo's new force. Some of them were asking to be sent to the base in the Sahara instead. The ninth's storm guardian growled low in his throat, 'the nerve!' these brats were trying to make a fool out of him?

"Ciaossu!" Said a voice, before a small helicopter came down and Reborn, dressed as a war correspondent, appeared. "I saw it all… and I must say that the quality of the new members is lacking." Taunted the hitman in his baby form.

"Reborn… this… is utterly ridiculous!" Argued the man in a clipped tone, but Reborn merely smirked at him. "They-" he said pointing to the guardians. "-are here to choose the new force for Japan's base. What are you so displeased about if your recruits can't even survive with them for mere fifteen minutes?" Mocked Reborn.

"They were the best!" Growled the storm guardian and saw in satisfaction the guilty cringe from the sun and rain guardians but frowned at the unconcerned and blank look displayed by the storm and mist guardian.

"Well, perhaps the best isn't good enough anymore?" Taunted Reborn under the admiring gazes of the guardians while the storm guardian Nougat frowned and tried not to kill the hitman. "Reborn, we will discuss this with the ninth."

Reborn lowered his fedora and nodded. "Well then... Gokudera! Take them to the hotel in this address, it's better if you're not here for a while." Reborn said to the slightly guilty looking guardian, who understood all too well that they were not out of danger yet.

"H.-hai, Reborn-san." Said the bomber and Nougat finally saw a true deference in the teenager's eyes. The young man truly respected the sun Arcobaleno. He suddenly realized that all the previous respect had been either fake or a mere formality.

"Such problematic children…"

* * *

In the morning Tsuna woke with a scream. He could hear a deafening sound blasting in the room, multicolored lights coming from nowhere and making him see floating spots. "Get to the floor!" He screamed out to the room while he dived to the hard floor barely saving his life as something went flying above him and crashed against his mattress.

He opened one eye and saw his bed on fire. He approached and saw a burning hole in the place he had just used to sleep. "Reborn…" He muttered in aggravation, this was so much like Reborn. "What the?!" Screamed Olivia, staring at the burning mattress and the impassive teenager staring in calm contemplation at the flames. "How many people did you piss off kid?!"

"Good Morning Olivia-san!" Smiled Tsuna, too used to the sadistic morning greetings. "Oh, this? Ah… it looks kind of bad isn't it?" He ignored the look the woman gave him and he proceeded to get dressed after bathing in a record time of thirty seconds in the diminutive bath that was in the room.

When he came back it was to see a dazed Orazio staring at him in confusion. "I had the strangest nightmare..." He mumbled and pointed to him with a shaking finger. "You were speaking to a talking bug, and then you tried to kill me... weird isn't?" Said the other, before chuckling in amusement. Tsuna just nodded warily and made a note to monitor the other from further head damage. 'Not that he was really sane before...'

They got out and followed everybody into a big room; there were seven big and long tables, they were loaded in food, and everything looked delicious but Tsuna immediately noticed that there were not more than sixty places… that meant…

"Hurry! Grab the food nearest to you!" He told his companions in full battle mode and launched himself to the nearest place and grabbed an apple and half a sandwich with almost animalistic desperation. His companions stared at him in surprise and slight concern but mere seconds later there came a mechanical voice from the ceiling.

"We would like to announce that the breakfast time is over… Have a nice day." Came a girly bored tone before the tables folded on themselves and literally swallowed the food, plates, glasses and all, under the confusion of the teams. Ugo looked at Tsuna who was swallowing his sandwich already and looked up in sheepish embarrassment and seemed concerned at something; he smiled and tossed him the apple with a concerned frown.

"Eat it… I think we will need it." Orazio stared at the small boy and was about to scream at him when Ugo glared at him in warning. "Eat it!" Said the tall man and the slight boy merely nodded and ate the fruit under the envious and hungry stares from the crowd.

"Please proceed to the training room. I repeat: please proceed to the training room." Said the same bored voice, and a mechanical door appeared in the back, making way for them.

Tsuna paused when he was about to enter the room, there was something his intuition was screaming at him, but the mixed signals were too confusing. Inner Tsuna was one moment happily squealing in joy like a little girl in a candy store, the next was whimpering on the ground and rocking forwards and backwards in anguish.

He was baffled at this until he saw the 'training room'. It consisted of a rocky cave, and the floor was covered in sand, almost desert like. But what made him cringe was the people on the dais, he saw five of his seven guardians on the dais, and in front of them were the men he recognized as the Ninth's storm and lightning guardian. "Wow… Ganauche III and Coyote Nougat!" Squealed a very excited Orazi. Tsuna saw stars forming in his eyes and noticed that half of the people in the teams were looking at the two men in clear admiration and respect.

"Good morning KORA!" Screamed a voice in the back of the room before a salvage of bullets made everybody kiss the sand. "You have to be alert all the time KORA!" Colonello soared above the group being carried by his seagull under the amused stares of the guardians.

"Good morning you useless group!" Came the voice from the Calvino, his face still sporting the fury of Mukurowl and a mighty glare in place. "I have good news for you: we will have new members with us."

One door opened to the side and a group dressed in black appeared, the crowd gasped in surprise at their appearances. All of them had one injury or another, burns, bandages, casts on the arms or legs, and a colorful array of bruises could be seen on them.

"This" Continued Calvino in a merciless tone. "Is what happens when the guardians of the Tenth reject someone…" He said with a smirk. "These members were generously granted a second chance by the Ninth himself, and now the guardians of the tenth generations will be choosing their teams from among all of you!"

"WHAT?!" Screamed Tsuna in a pained voice and then shut his mouth with a groan, he saw all his friends' gazes zeroed on him in an instant, all of them looking at him with full of intent gazes. "Hey! That is… OUCH! WHY DID YOU DO THAT Bakadera! DIE!" The group saw on the dais the smallest guardian taking out a bazooka and almost blast off the storm's guardian head, but the silver haired teenager sidestepped the beam with an incredible skill, only to deliver a round kick to the child's head, taking him down in a blink, under the unconcerned stares of the rest of the guardians.

Tsuna saw Clavino glared hatefully at him in warning and he lowered his eyes, but managed to notice the almost glare Chrome was giving to the man. 'Uh...oh' thought Tsuna, begging that Chrome won't become involved, if she was pissed off then Mukuro would...

"Oh god…!" Muttered Olivia at the painful sound of Lambo hitting the floor, and Tsuna had to agree, he glared at Gokudera and saw his friend flinched from the heat of his glare, but the other didn't look at him. His storm guardian was pale and too tense, but was definitely ignoring him. Tsuna could see a faint trembling from his left hand. In fact, all of them seemed to be trying their very best now not to look at him, Ryohei even facing the wall with a concentration worthy of a meditating monk.

"This is not a game for the weak, all of you who are rejected will be labeled as the lowest of the lowest forever, remember that! Now, this will be the trash team, or the black team, those belonging to this team by the end of this week will be forever assigned to do the paperwork and become the guinea pigs of the research teams.

Tsuna was startled at the anguished moans of the crowd, he saw the people on the black team almost whimpered in fear. Who or what was this 'research team?' Tsuna imagined a dungeon filled with torture devices and an ogre and shivered.

"…I'm doomed…" Whispered Orazio in a weak voice and Tsuna stared at him in confusion. "You don't understand? They are crazy! The research group of the Vongola is called the _Hell's hole_. The ones who get assigned there never last more than a week! And there are rumors that the new member is even crazier… and when the Arcobaleno Verde is involved in a project… well it gets bad, I have heard of people going bat shit crazy in a day!"

"Ah... ?Well…" Tsuna said eloquently, because yes, Spanner, Giannini and Verde 'playing' together was a truly scary thought.

"These are the new guardians for the Vongola!" Tsuna realized that they had ignored the man for the last of his speech. "They will evaluate your performance and if they deem you worthy they will choose some of you to belong to their team!"

Excited murmurs filled the cavernous room and Tsuna sighed. 'Reborn! This is his fault!' The people were staring at his friends in open awe. Tsuna for his part was wondering how he would manage to survive with his sanity and identity intact.

"We have finished with the first test of water, so then we will have the test of the earth!" Came the voice from Lal, she appeared from the sky, dressed in a protective suit from neck to toes. Colonello reappeared dressed in desert camouflage.

"We wish you luck!" Screamed Ryohei, still facing the wall to avoid seeing Tsuna and in a moment Tsuna felt a déjà vu when the floor disappeared under them and the sand around threatened to swallow the people. The last thing he saw was the constipated look Gokudera was making as well as the happy grin Yamamoto was giving him.

* * *

**S-H-Test* Super hellish Test**(training regime under the patent of Mater Pao-pao.)

Just a little gift for all the Colonello lovers:

**Omake: Thy enemy**

Colonello was undeniably one of the strongest Arcobaleno, no, he was one of the strongest people alive. He had suffered through hell and back to gain that strength. He had trained in COMSUBIN for years to be the best out there. He was the BEST.

But he had been defeated, utterly and completely… by an insect. And it wasn't even a monstrous, gigantic tarantula or a nasty mutant scorpion… no, he had been defeated by a cockroach, a measly half an inch insect!

He glared at the empty corridor of the complex. He knew that the enemy was still inside the base, that insect couldn't be normal; it was too fast, too strong. He would find it and defeat his foe for once and for the end!

He would regain his honor and pride… he paused in his motivational thoughts when he heard the sound of little feet scuffling around, he tensed and stopped his breathing, his sharp eyes narrowed in alertness and his finger lightly touching the trigger from his gun. 'It's here' whispered all his war instincts. His foe was close.

He heard the strange whisper of little feet once more, something no normal human could hear, but Colonello was not normal. He was an elite fighter, a top predator in the path of vengeance. He felt the perspiration on his brow and his body tensed in anticipation, he advanced on the balls of his feet, ready, waiting …

He was about to turn the corner when the light sound stopped altogether. He paused and readied himself. 'One… two… NOW!' He turned the corner and pointed his gun and saw his enemy in front of him, there it was! He pointed and shot and saw the bullet being deflected by the shiny wing of the insect. Then the Cockroach turned around and seemed to stare at him in defiance, his little antennas twitching mockingly at him. His enemy was taunting him with those deep black eyes.

Colonello growled and threw away his gun and took out a knife, ready to fight to death with the immortal monster, this would be a final fight, his honor and pride on the line. He would risk his life to defeat this menace! He gave a last thought to Lal's image and then screamed, launching his body forwards, his knife was made of the strongest and sharpest metal and coated in rain flames.

And then he slammed into an open door with a painful sound, his nose breaking in pieces with a painful crushing sound. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Screamed Lal in aggravation to the moaning man at her feet, Colonello turned to the floor and saw that his foe had escaped.

"NOOOO!" He screamed in anger, his bloody face was contorted in a mask of vengeance and fury, promising pain to his foe.

"Great… he finally lost it…" Grumbled Lal, leaving behind his coworker.

* * *

Tbc

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See ya!


	5. The name of the game

Thank you so much for your reviews, some made me laugh hysterically, some made me grin like a lunatic, even some of them inspired some scenes on this chapter. So, thank you so much for keeping this story alive!

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**Thanks!**

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This month has been a nightmare, but I promise to give my best on this story ;)

Once more my amazing beta did her magic on this: Thanks To** Shanagi95** for betaeing this, you're amazing! All further errors are MY doing.

I hope you enjoy:

* * *

**Chapter 5: The name of the game.**

Yamamoto stared in slight concern at the gaping Gokudera. He poked him once and stared a little more when all the response he got was a squeak. His friend was kneeling on the floor, mouth opening and closing like a fish with a strange face undecided between horror and outrage, his arms stretched towards the hole in the floor. The rain guardian himself was uncomfortable at seeing his boss and friend fall into a hole and just not doing anything about it.

The rain guardian looked towards the monitor and saw that the orange team had landed together on the center of the desert, near a dot indicating 'oasis' while the gray and black were dispersed all around the edges of the maze-like desert. It was clearly a tactic to give the orange team an unfair advantage. "It's not_ fair_…' he breathed, all of his sportsmanship spirit screaming_ 'injustice'_.

The trainer from Vongola seemed pleased with himself, his wide back straight and proud. "Well, you should go to the control room to watch the proceedings… of course we already know who will win this challenge…", said the Vongola Trainer with glee. "I promise you that before the day is over all of the failures will surely be eliminated on this test. We will use the remaining weeks to train the new force for the Decimo to be the best as they can." He gloated with a satisfied smirk and Yamamoto felt a spark of annoyance towards the man.

"Ha, ha…well who knows? Sometimes the weakest teams become champions…" He laughed and noticed a slight spark of rage from the man, but it was rapidly suppressed. "Well… of course all of you are still young and still a bit _naive_… but I can assure you that_ all_ of the gray team are nothing but trash… now if you excuse me I have to make a call."

"I don't like him," said Ryohei in a strange and serious tone, frowning at the man's back. "He's bad news…" Yamamoto nodded and Chrome approached the still shocked Gokudera and gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Uhm… we should go to the control room, I think Spanner-san is there…"

The storm guardian unexpectedly spun around and looked in horror at the mist guardian; he paled a shade more and gasped, suddenly remembering something. "Spa… oh no…! He better not use _THAT!_" He screamed, sprinting to the control room, leaving behind a group of confused guardians.

"Uhm… excuse me…" Said Chrome in a soft voice, looking worried about something. "Have any of you seen Lambo?"

* * *

Reborn stared at the photos that the CEDEF had recovered and frowned at them. "Sir, we have confirmed our suspicions. There's no doubt about it, someone has infiltrated us." Said Oregano with a worried frown. "Someone altered the records, it was done flawlessly. We couldn't find anything to trace the culprit."

Reborn continued to look at the folders that the member of the CEDEF was showing him. They had discovered inconsistencies on the number and identities of some of the candidates, and what was worse, someone had meddled with all the archives, making it impossible to identify quickly the imposters.

"Iemitsu-san is already informing the Ninth of this, I will call Lal-Mirch to cancel the trial at once." Continued Oregano, already dialing the number when a bullet snapped her new phone to half, a clear show of Reborn stopping her. "No, there's no need to stop the trial. This is as much a test for the guardians as for their boss. And put your phone on the Decimo's tab." Said Reborn, a sadistic smile stretching across his adult face. "This is_ too_ perfect." He took out his own phone and called the ninth. "Sir? Yes, I have been informed… and I have an idea…"

Miles away Tsuna felt his hearth stop for a second, followed by a wave of nausea and chills, but since he was falling through the air at the time, these ominous signs were overlooked in favor of surviving.

* * *

In another part of Italy, on a secret location, inside a veritable fortress, orders from the Vongola Don were being received. The Dying will flame on the paper declared the orders as official and urgent, a direct order from the boss.

"VOI! I said to move your lazy asses! NOW!" Ordered Squalo, his very little, almost nonexistent patience coming to an end. He glared at the lazy idiots that he called team, promising pain and death to them but all of them were looking more bored than afraid at his display of rage.

"Ushishishishi, the prince doesn't want to move any part of his royal self!" Laughed Belphegor while he was staring lovingly at his knives. Then he launched one of them to the new member of the Varia who didn't even flinch when one of the sharp knives was a hilt deep into his back. "Mmmm. master told me not to involve myself with freaks… and all of you are freaks…so, no thanks." Supplied Fran in his most vivacious tone, which was as flat as Verde's humor.

"VOOOIII! Get out!" Screamed Squalo grabbing the tow of them by their collars and launching the pair to the wall, leaving behind a perfect shape of their bodies on the wall. "That hurt." Deadpanned Fran with a poker face worthy of Varia quality. Squalo readied his sword. "Oh no, _THIS_ is gonna hurt!" He promised, advancing to the pair, one of them already getting out his weapons, the other staring in the same absent style at the ceiling.

"Shut the fuck up you trash!" Growled a menacing voice from the corner of the room and Squalo turned around to glare at his boss. "Why the hell must we go? Isn't Reborn their babysitter?!"

A half full of wine in the face was the answer accompanied by the disgruntled growl from his boss. "Shut up you shitty shark! Some rats dared to infiltrate us! We have orders to kill them! Now move it!" Ordered Xanxus, his face a complete mask of annoyance. "I swear that if that shit of a brat isn't in mortal peril I will kill him myself!" He growled in an almost perfect imitation of Bester's roar, leaving behind a bleeding Squalo and a smoking chair.

"AH! Squalo! Don't move dear! Lussuria will take care of your wounds!" Said the Muay-thai fighter with a motherly voice, surrounded by a halo of radiance and feathers, just waiting to envelope the shark in his healing flames. "Now! Let yourself be invaded by my brilliance!" Sang the man, extending his arms and letting his flames spread around him like a rainbow, approaching his sub-commander with a strange grin. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" And promptly received a mighty punch from the sword master of the Varia, followed by a reverse kick that smashed his number two-hundred-seventy-five pair of glasses.

"I said to shut up you useless idiots!" This of course initiated a battle royal between their members, making the Varia headquarters shake to its foundations.

The Varia was now officially involved.

* * *

When Tsuna landed it was only to swallow an unhealthy amount of sand, coarse, salty and very hot, sand. "COF, COF, COF." Of course he managed to inhale part of it, the result being choking to death. "Spit it out!" Was the advice from a frantic Orazio and then Tsuna saw the gigantic shadow of Ugo approaching him. "Don't move!" Said the man and Tsuna forced his body not to move while the man punched him in the gut, making him expel the sand and his meager lunch in the process, oh and it helped to make him breathe of course.

"COF… WHY…COFF… DID YOU DO THAT?!" Asked a slightly hurted Tsuna, staring with betrayed eyes at the man. "Effective isn't…? That is a technique given by Dr Shamal himself! He wrote it down in the Vongola's Health Manual for Emergency Care and Response for **Men**." Said Ugo with a bright and proud grin on his face under the disbelieving gaze of his unknown boss. "And you thought it was a good idea?! He _hates _men!"

Ugo was now staring at him in clear suspicion at his words and Tsuna swallowed heavily, hoping he could swallow his word back. Orazio looked triumphant and inner Tsuna was holding out a colossal sign with a big 'idiot' written on it. "Uh… I mean… I have heard he is like that…"

Olivia stared at him with a slightly curious gaze. "You know… you look kind of familiar… what was your surname again?"

"You know _THE_ Dr. Shamal?" Ugo was coming to him with veritable stars in his eyes and an almost fangirlishy squeal. "He is a genius! I have always wanted to study under him!" Tsuna felt a little of pity for him, he was sure that Shamal would NEVER, (again), have a male pupil.

"..I… no! I don't know him! I… I mean…." Orazio clasped his shoulder and smiled at him, stopping his panic attack. "Look… Ugo and Olivia are the children of Coyote Nougat, you can trust them." Ugo and Olivia were looking at the teenager in slight surprise. "How did you know that?! We even changed our looks!" Whispered Olivia with a disgruntled frown. "Well it doesn't matters… papa didn't look very happy to see us on the gray team…" Said the woman with a slightly nervous look, while Ugo seemed unconcerned. "Weeeell the cat is out the bag! You have our secrets, now what is yours? Are you another bastard son of the ninth or something?"

"WHAT!? NO!" Said Tsuna, feeling like a cornered bunny, like the prey of a hungry wolf, like… "I'm screwed… He's going to kill me" Moaned Tsuna, falling to his ass on the hot sand, he could feel his life coming to an end, Reborn would kill him for sure. "Hey! It can't be so bad…" Said Olivia in an uncharacteristically soft tone.

"You can trust us… we all are together in this… for good or bad. I may not be much but I'm not a betrayer…" Said Orazio with a strangely proud gleam in his eyes, and somehow, something inside Tsuna told him to trust the three of them.

"Uhm… I… well… I can't… I can't say who I am… because _HE_ will kill me!" He said finally, looking around, almost expecting Reborn to appear behind him. "I knew it! I was right!" Said Orazio with a proud gaze. "I may have a weak body but I have a superb memory and I know everybody on the mafia! And I specialize on strategy... of course my father thinks this is useless…"

"Oh? So you really are his son then… sucks to be you!" Said a sympathetic Ugo and he stared at Tsuna with a smile. "So he is….?" Asked the man while pointing to a pale Tsuna.  
"He is the younger brother of the Decimo!" Said Orazio, pointing at Tsuna like a dog pointing to the prey. "Don't worry, we won't tell." He assured to the brunette with a consoling face.

Tsuna's patience was coming to an end, he had the urge to bang his head on the ground or somebody's else head. "Look! I'm an only child! I don't have any brother! I don't even have cousins!" Inner Tsuna was screaming a mantra of 'idiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidi otidiotidiotidiot' "I mean… I'm not his brother… I…uhm…AGH! HE is going to kill me!"

Olivia approached him with a serious gaze. "I know why you seem so familiar… you look a little like Iemitsu-san! You...!" She gasped, looking at him in wonder and slight pity, and Tsuna swallowed hard, this was it, there was no way to get out of this alive! "You… are his bastard child?!" She said in a devious tone, and Tsuna gaped at her and at his surprised partners…'How can they think that?!'

"HIEEE! NO! That's wrong!" But nobody was listening to him anymore, Olivia was hugging the lights out of him, cooing to him as if he was a pitiful street puppy. "Ohhh poor you! The Decimo must hate you! Don't worry! We will make sure to bring you alive out of this!"

"Yes! Trust in us!" Tsuna was trying desperately to get out of the woman's embrace, and to run away from the clearly delusional people around him. 'How can they even think that?!'

But Tsuna's plight was interrupted by the strangest and thickest fog, suddenly the desert was flooded by humid and cold mist, and the four of them stared in worry at their surroundings. They could hear the soft sound of light steps on the sand, and a cloaked figure appeared in the middle of the mist.

"Hello travelers…." Tsuna felt his Mukuro's radar coming to life like a kick in the back, he felt his presence even before he heard the laugh; the teenager turned around and didn't see Mukuro but an old lady wearing a cape, a very creepy old lady. 'He didn't!' moaned Tsuna, a nervous twitch already appearing on his cheek, he just knew who was under the pathetic disguise!

"Hello dears… would you like some_ refreshments?_" Asked the Mukuro/hag and Tsuna gaped at his mist guardian in exasperation. 'What the…?! There's no way somebody could fall into that!'

"Oh! FOOD! Sure!" Said a happy Orazio followed by an enthusiastic Olivia. "Oh thank you madam!" Tsuna did the only logical thing he could do in such occasion. "NOOOOO!" He tackled the old woman to the ground, basket and all and they feel down a dune, rolling and rolling until they got the bottom, and then pinned 'her' to the sand. "Mukuro! What are you doing here?!" He whispered rapidly after spitting out a new mouthful of sand.

"Kufufufufu… little Vongola, you could tell it was me? You're getting better!" Laughed the old hag in a screechy grating laugh. Tsuna just glared at him. "Mukuro! I thought you hated the Mafia? What are you doing here?"

"Of course I hate the mafia, but how could I refuse this opportunity to get rid of a few of them? Kufufufu…" It was then that Tsuna took a good look at the food in the basket, it was filled with poison cooking! 'Reborn! This was Reborn's doing!'

"Mukuro! You promised to stop trying to kill anyone form the Vongola!" Moaned Tsuna in a annoyed tone. "Oya? I promised not to screw with their_ minds_, if I remember, and only to your little watch-dogs… now, it seems your new puppies are worried about you Sawada Tsunayoshi…"

"HIEEEEE! Don't call me that!" Tsuna tried to stop Mukuro and then saw his body melt in the sand, leaving behind only the black cape and poisoned food. "Kufufufu see you later! Oh and be careful of the lonely beast in the oasis," laughed the illusionist. It was then that the trio managed to reach him and stared at the empty cape on the floor.

"What the hell?!" Screamed Olivia with a shocked gasp while Ugo examined the food in a strange wonderment. "Don't touch that!" Tsuna threw the food to the sand, which started to foam and emit strange purple fumes.

"Ugh...! what is that?!" Orazio moaned with a green tint on his face; Ugo however seemed fascinated by it. "Mmm.. . this could be the mysterious poison cooking?!" Tsuna glared at the food and seemed to realize that this test would become increasingly chaotic.

"What are we supposed to do on this desert?" He asked and looked up in the sky and only then noticed a gigantic colossal screen, with the number ten flashing merrily. "What is that?" the rest of the group looked at the sky screen and frowned. "Mmmm… maybe it's the time we have to reach the goal..." Said the medic from Vongola, while his sister poked at the still foaming food. "Or perhaps it's the time we have to survive in here…?"

"Why do we bother? My father has decided already the winners…" Said Orazio in a depressed tone and all the faces turned to him. "What do you mean?!" Asked Tsuna in a worried tone. The black haired teen sighed, "He… he doesn't believe in second chance, if you lose once then you're a failure forever… he will do anything in his power to eliminate the gray and black teams…"

"B-but that's wrong!" Complained Tsuna, his fist clenched in annoyance. "This is supposed to be a series of test to find the best people for the Japan base isn't? How can he decide that only with one test?!"

"Look… I'm not telling you it's alright! But… as long as he is the one making the choice none of us will stand a chance to be presented to the Decimo!" A depressed silence followed his statement and Tsuna took a good look at his companions they all looked really worried. "Uhm… what will happen if you're not chosen?" He finally asked, and saw Ugo flinch and Olivia pale a little. "Apart from becoming the guinea pigs from those crazy scientists you mean…? We will become the scum of Vongola of course, we will never be allowed to rise from the bottom… so yes…"

"But… why?! It's just a stupid test!" Tsuna gave a step back at the fierce glare Orazio gave him, and saw the disgruntled glare on Olivia's face. "Look, by coming here we left everything behind! We are pleading our loyalty to the Decimo! That means that there won't be a place for us under the Ninth! We can't serve two masters! Even if they are practically the same!" The depressed silence was deeper this time, and Tsuna suddenly understood their desperation, they had left everything behind…

"Well… then we just have to win this!" There was a pause and incredulous faces turned to him, but Tsuna remained firm. "I-I mean… well We don't have other choice but winning this test! As long as we work together?" he finished in an unsure voice, and he could swear, _swear_ that he heard a low, exasperated, sigh from somewhere behind him, but he couldn't see or hear anything but the desert around them.

"You can't be serious?!" Started Orazio but was interrupted by a strange vibration on the sand, and a strange roar-like sound coming from the left. "W-what….? Is that… a?"

Ugo squinted and paled considerably looking at the cloud of dust coming their way. "Oh Hell WHAT IN SEVEN HELLS IS THAT?! Run! NOW!"

* * *

MEANWHILE ABOVE THEM….

* * *

"Uhm… Gokudera I think you're choking him" Said Yamamoto looking a little worried about the blue tint on Spanner's face and the red faced Gokudera who looked ready to kill. "Of course I'm going to kill him! Why did you use _THAT?_!"

"WOW! That thing sure is EXTREME...! Ouch! That must have hurt!" Winced Ryohei watching with a slight worried look the screens. They were in the control room above the massive fake desert that easily covered seven kilometers, it was a maze of shifting dunes and only one fake oasis.

"Oh! Oh! Run! Run NO! Not that way!" Moaned Ryohei as if he was watching a football match, while Gokudera felt his blood-pressure rising even closer to stroke levels. "SHUT IT DOWN!" He growled to Spanner, giving him his best death glare. The mechanic made frantic gestures, pleading to breathe. "I… 'T…ROL" He wheezed and Gokudera let go of him finally, leaving a gasping mechanic on the floor.

"WOHOOOO! YES! He got two of them! Spanner! This thing extremely is amazing!" Gokudera twitched at the bloodthirsty screams from Ryohei, who seemed delighted at the plight of the teams under them. "What did you say Spanner?" He asked to the blond mechanic ready to blow the other all the way to China if necessary.

"I can't stop them! Reborn-san took the master control!" Explained Spanner with a slightly worried frown, and wincing at some of the images on the screen. "Ah… that wasn't supposed to happen…" He whispered when the sound from an explosion reached even the control room.

"SHIT!" Screamed Gokudera, watching the monstrous invention on the screen. The candidates didn't stand a chance to survive against those monsters. "Sword-freak, lawn-head, Chrome! We are going down there!"

"Ah… but the kid said that we are forbidden to…" Yamamoto whispered, his hands clenched in impatience and his eyes sharp but unsure. Gokudera grabbed him by his collar and closed the space between them until he was looking him eye to eye. "The boss is down there, unarmed, surrounded by useless idiots and he cannot use his flames! I don't care what Reborn-san said, our boss needs us!" He screamed…

"You and Chrome are one team, the sword-freak and me the other, don't…" He was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming open as Calvino entered the room. "Excuse me but… where are you going?" He asked in a dangerous tone, his body expanding to its widest and glaring at them in suspicion. "I hope you're not trying to interfere with the Vongola test… I'm sure the Ninth and the Tenth would be severely displeased to learn of this…" Warned the man in a condescending tone, his gaze hard and cold.

"B-but the prototypes are out of control!" Explained Chrome pointing to the screens. "Boss would never approve of this!" She argued with conviction, refusing to step back at the glare from the man.

"If the trash dies then it's a gain for us, Vongola has no use for the weak! The Decimo himself authorized this method!" Argued the man, still full of arrogance. And the storm guardian snapped. "The tenth would never sacrifice someone like this! Don't you dare to sully his name like this!" Growled the bomber, the other guardians glaring at the trainer.

"Please! You can't be this naïve! Even you had to fight to gain your place!" He continued, oblivious to the murderous aura from the guardians. "This is the Vongola Famiglia, the strongest Family on the Mafia and the Decimo is the man who will continue with this great vision! Of course he would only want the strongest men around him!"

"Sawada is not like that! He is an extreme Guy!" Screamed Ryohei, his eyes burning. And the man sneered at him. "Perhaps he lets you be at his side since you are his..._ friends,_ but I hope you won't be an obstacle to his greatness?! The Decimo himself sent this letter, giving me full reign for all the operations!" The man took out a paper, with a dying will flame in orange on top. All the guardians looked confused for a moment but then they felt it… it was fake, they had been at the side of Tsuna too many times to be confused by a weak, fake sky flame…

"You dare…!" growled Gokudera, one thing was insulting his boss, but trying to make bad copies of his flame just to give himself more power? "I'm going to make you dust!"

**"Chaos**!" Said a deep voice from the entrance, one that stopped the bomber from killing the Vongola trainer. "Interesting proposition Calvino Arbore…You say you could choose better guardians?" Asked Reborn in his most menacing tone, his full adult form making him a threatening figure, even though he was calmly leaning against the door.

"…W-what? Signore Reborn? N-no… of course not Sir!" He simpered, faced to the strongest and most deadliest hitman in the Mafia, who only smirked and lowered his fedora. "Let's make a bet then… let the guardians join the test. They said that the grey team or the black team can win, and you say that only the orange team can be the winner." Reborn's smile widened and he pointed his gun to the group. "So, let's make a bet. They will become part of the black and gray teams; if they lose along with those teams then I will accept your suggestions concerning their replacements… How about it?"

A long silence invaded the room, only interrupted by the enthusiastic screaming from Ryohei. "YES! Count me in!" He cheered, giving a high-five o Yamamoto's hand. "Ha, ha… well it sounds like a fun game! Isn't Gokudera?" The bomber was still trying to murder the man with his glare but he took out his cigarettes, and sneered at the baseball player. "It's not a game you idiot! But yes… it's interesting. Reborn-san we definitely will win this for the boss!"

"We won't disappoint bossu!" Said Chrome, also glaring at the fake paper still on the man's hand. They all knew it was forged, but they couldn't prove it with the real deal trapped in the middle of a desert-death trap! "We will win!"

"Well, Spanner, would you take them to the entrance of the testing area?" Reborn asked nicely to the mechanic who was still warily looking at Gokudera and the furious looking Vongola trainer, as if expecting the two of them to explode at the minimum provocation.

"S-sure…this way…" He stammered practically running to the door and from between the two groups the guardians hot on his heels. "Che! That bastard trying to supplant the tenth…!"

"Ma, ma! We just have to win this thing!" Cheered Yamamoto in his happy go attitude. As if winning a competition against hundreds of Mafioso in the worst conditions was a piece of cake. "Uhm… Vongola didn't sign that did he?" Asked Spanner in a worried tone, and received a bong in the head from Gokudera for it. "OF COURSE NOT! That measly flame could never be the same as the boss'! It's absolutely fake!"

"Ouch… I know! But I think that... somehow, he got hold of our flame replicator device…That could be dangerous in the wrong hands…" Explained Spanner, and that made them pause, if somebody tried to make false documents like that…

"I'm going to kill him…" Vowed the bomber and took out his cockroach from his pocket. "Look! Keep your… what is this thing called by the way?" He asked, pausing to look at the electronic bug.

"Ah! They're called Tsunagari-1a, 1-b and 1-c. Since they're the first ones!" Said Spanner with the proud and fond gaze that could only belong to a proud parent or a mad scientist.

"What?! No way that's too girlish! We can't name them that!" Complained Ryohei with a growl, while Gokudera seemed to really like the name. "Mmm it has one of the Kanji's of the boss' name… I guess it is alright…" Said the bomber.

"No! As a man I cannot allow this cheesy name!" Growled Ryohei with a 'true man's pose' (patent pending) he shoved his insect to Gokudera's face making the other wince at the insect. "Look at him! He will be miserable with that name!"

"Oh yes? Then what name you would call them with?" Gokudera smirked at the other, crossing his arms, at his side there were Spanner and Chrome, both of them liking the Tsunagari name, while Yamamoto was standing between the two groups trying to calm them down.

Ryohei glared back and closed his eyes, flopping down in the floor into a meditating pose, his brow furrowed in deep contemplation. There was a bead of sweat running across his temple towards his cheek, his knuckles grinding at the tension in the hands. The sun guardian opened his eyes in a flash, his intense gaze focusing on the storm guardian, he pointed one finger to the other. "It will be called Vongola's extreme communication…ah... THING! **V.E.C.T**!" He yelled out loud, his body firing up a storm, his brilliance literally blinding everyone around him.

"Stop releasing your flames you idiot! Argh my eyes!" Ryohei paused in his victory pose to look at his screaming friends, and seemed sheepish for a while. "So?! That's a great name isn't it!?"

"No!" Said Gokudera, still trying to clear the spots from his eyes, he glared in the general direction of the sun guardian. "It's a stupid, moronic name! VECT? Just what is the Vongola? A disease?! I should have expected such name from a lawn-head!"

"What did you say you octopus-head?!" Retorted the boxer, screaming in the other's face.

"What you just heard Lawn-head!" The bomber took out a handful of dynamites, ready to blow the other guardian. "Well, it's better than your girly name!"

"Hey! We took a long time to search for that, Giannini and I!" Complained an indignant Spanner, his face flushed in either anger or embarrassment. "**STAY OUT OF THIS!**" Screamed the two guardians at the mechanic who wisely stepped back in defeat.

"Let's resolve this with our fist Octopus-head!" Ryohei stepped back, his fist raised ready for the fight, while the storm guardian lighted up his cigarette. "Any time you want!" The both jumped forwards at the same time and were both yanked back in a blink by large and sturdy vines.

"STOP FIGHTING!** NOW!**" There was an angry scream that stopped the argument, the two guardians found themselves enveloped in vines and flowers while a seething Chrome was glaring at them. "BOSSU IS IN TROUBLE! We don't have time for this." She reminded them, her glare worthy of the number one disciple of Mukuro and the two guardians nodded warily when her blazing eye landed on them.

"Ma, ma…How about if we call one of them VECT and the other Tsunagari?" Said Yamamoto in his best placating tone, remembering all too well the last time they had managed to piss-off the normally meek mist guardian… It had been memorable and painful.

The sun and storm guardian looked at each other, and at the still glaring Chrome, then, communicating through the mysterious art of glares and grunts they finally came to an agreement.

"Sure…" Said Ryohei in a bored fashion.

"Aah…" Nodded Gokudera with a lazy movement.

"NO! I don't like those names!" Screamed a voice at ground level, they all stared at one of the small cockroaches, it was Lambo's voice. "You stupid cow! Where the hell are you?! Hold on… you took one of the communicating devices?!"

"Whahahahaha! The great Lambo-sama is a desert trooper now!" Squealed the insect, transmitting the voice from the lightning guardian, and Gokudera suddenly had a clear understanding of just where the child was: In the middle of the death trap. "And I don't like those names! They're stinky! They should be called Roachie!"

"Where are y… Roachie? We would never use that name! We would be the laughing stock!"

"Pichu then!"

"Even worse!

"Goki-chi!"

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Well we had a second option of V-sion as in 'Vongola Sneaky Intelligence Of communicatioN' But it was too long to fit on the plaque…" Said Spanner scratching his head, then he seemed to remember something and looked at Gokudera. "Uhm… Are you going to call Vongola now?" Asked Spanner trying not to reignite the flames of war. The guardians stared at him in a dumb fashion before they scrambled to reach for the insect in Spanner hand and activated it.

"B-Bo… I mean! Yoshi-sama, Yoshi-sama?" There was a strange sound on the other side, a grinding sound followed by a crushing sound… "HIEEEEE!" …followed by a very familiar scream.

"YOSHI-SAMA! Are you okay?!" Screamed a frantic Gokudera while everybody grouped around the still screaming little bug, wishing more than ever to have an image.

"HIIEEEE…Gokudera-kun? WHAT ARE THESE THINGS? AAAAHHH! GET OFF!"

"GUPYAAAAAA! MY FORTRESS! AAAHHHHH GET AWAY FROM LAMBO!" Came the screams from Lambo's Tsunagari. "LAMBO?! That was_ Lambo's_ voice?! GOKUDERA-KUN _where_ is Lambo?!" screamed Tsuna through the insect, making the storm guardian to pale and begin to sweat. "Uh… well b-boss… he is there… in the desert."

"WHAT! WHY!? HIEEEE!" There was the sound of something slithering and what seemed the sound of little teeth gnawing, followed by the unmistakable sound of his boss' flame crushing the offenders to a melting goo. There was silence and the panting from Tsuna. "Don't worry Boss, we are coming for him, all of us joined the gray teams!" Explained Gokudera, hoping to reassure his boss.

"W-what? Are you mad?! This is too dangerous! Just get Lambo out of here! AAAAHHH! Spanner stops these things...!- YOSHI! GET DOWN!" Screamed a new voice, it seemed to be a woman's voice. There were more strange noises and more screaming from the other side, it seemed that someone had reached Tsuna's location and thus, the communication came to an end.

"Turf-head and Chrome, go and search for Lambo. Yamamoto and I will go to the Tenth's side!" He commanded, trying not to let his worry for his boss made him panic. "Once you reach that stupid cow take the communicator."

"V.E.C.T"

"Whatever! Take the communicator and call us. Spanner, you will be our eyes, call Gianinni and Shoichi to search for a way to shut down those things! Otherwise we will have to destroy them!" Everybody nodded and ran down the stairs, ready to add to…err… ready to stop the madness.

Ten hours to live or die.

TBC

* * *

Man… that was difficult.

Well we had a tie with the names, so I had to use two of them: on first and first place: Tsunagari and V.E.C.T

Congratulations to the winners and thank you all who supplied their suggestions on the names, I tried to use some of them if only in passing.

Review my lovely readers, and keep feeding the starving muses.


	6. Just pick a side

**I would like to apologize, but it's been a bad, bad time for me and my family, we are moving forward but drama in real life is bad for writting comedy...  
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**Anyways, horror and drama aside I won't abandon this story yet, and to the review who suggested that I give this up to adoption, if I find myself unable to continue I will certainly do so, until then I hope you put up with me :)  
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**See ya!  
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**Thanks to all the reviews, they made me sooo happy and how they helped me in these times.. THANKS THANKS THANKS! :D  
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**Also thanks to all favs and follows (Soooo much!)  
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**Special thanks to Shanagi95 for betaing this so fast!  
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* * *

**CHAPTER 6: Just pick a side.**

Spanner huffed and puffed all the way up the stairs, wondering who was the idiot that forgot to put an elevator in the design of the building, when he finally got to the control room he found a baby Reborn smirking at something in the screens. Somehow, the image only made Spanner shiver in dread.

"Did you contact Shoichi?" Asked Reborn in a sharp tone without bothering to look away from the cameras. "Uhm… Just a second." Spanner searched through the multiple pockets in his brand new orange jumpsuit and finally found a small sleek phone. He pressed speed dial and waited until he heard the unmistakable voice of his best friend and rival.

"Shoichi? It's me, Spanner… Are you still in Italy?... Oh? You're with Gianinni?" Spanner smiled in relief, he had one more helping hand. "Yeah… well I'm in a secret location, doing secret stuff so I can't really explain to you on the phone but basically Vongola and company are in danger of death and losing their positions… Sooo… Would you like to come here for a while?" Reborn smiled when he heard the screams coming from the phone while Spanner cupped his damaged ear.

"Tell him that Colonello will pick them up." Ordered Reborn"And go and call Lal and Colonello for me? Thank you, ah! And also a cup of coffee if you please." Said Reborn with a cute smile, making Spanner sigh in resignation.

* * *

"What do you mean that he is out of town?! HE WAS SCHEDULED TO BE HERE ALL WEEK! Don't you _dare_ to put me on wai…. DAMN IT!" A cheery waiting tone interrupter her and Lal-mirch screamed in frustration, before snapping her telephone in two for the third time in a week. She was never helping Reborn in anything again. It was supposed to be a simple exercise, nothing out of the ordinary was supposed to happen. At the most, they should be facing wounded and traumatized people and even one death if one of them was stupid enough, but it shouldn't be the chaos they had on their hands now.

Colonello frowned at the most recent 'orders' they had received from the control room. –**Eliminate all but the orange team**- it read, it was stamped with the Vongola's seal and the dying will flame of Tsuna on the top… except that the feel of the flame was odd and weird to the rain Archobaleno. That, and he was sure that Tsuna would never authorize such orders. But they could not manage to communicate with anybody in the main family or on the CEDEF. Timoteo and Iemitsu had vanished from the face of earth as well as all the guardians of the ninth generation. They were alone.

"Colonello give me your phone!" She snapped to his blond companion. "What?! No! You destroyed the last one Kora!" The blond Arcobaleno gave her a suspicious look. "Who are you trying to localize now?" Lal growled and clenched her teeth. "Our idiot CEDEF oh! Great leader! They told me he went to the North Pole to direct the traffic of penguins! And the ninth just vanished! Nobody knows were they are!"

"Uh uh… So he left someone in charge?" Asked Colonello, starting to look a little worried too. Lal paused and looked at him with a slight nervous look. "Yes, the ninth left Iemitsu in charge and Iemitsu...he left Basil on charge…" Colonello's smile disappeared from his face. "He is a great kid…. But isn't too soon to leave all the CEDEF to him?" He paused when his phone started vibrating; he took it and showed to Lal that it was Spanner the one calling.

"Yes? What is it?" There was a pause in which Lal could only discern the tone of Spanner's voice and Colonello's full blown frown. "Ok… we will be back in a few minutes…" He answered before grabbing his weapon and looking at the other rain Archobaleno with a serious look. "We have a new mission, contact Basil. We will need all the help we can…"

* * *

Meanwhile in the desert….

There are moments in which a person must stand before a dangerous situation and regardless of the fear and pain they should stand up tall and strong and face the danger on.

However, there are moments in which any moron with a single functioning bran cell should decide to run like never before.

Now, being pursued by a veritable army of bright neon pink… things Tsuna decided to take the second option. Behind him a panting and gasping Orazio was fighting to keep moving but was clearly out of fuel. They had lost sight of Olivia and Ugo in the chaos and now they were only trying to stay alive. Behind them was a sight that come forth from a LSD induced nightmare; an army of pink, fluffy, and furry bunny-like-creatures was following them while their heads had the signature floppy ears the muzzle of the creatureswas fox-like with a large row of metallic teeth, the eyes were red and could be seen moving in a 180° range, while the body was in the shape of a bunny the size belonged more to a Rottweiler with huge hind legs that made them jump almost nine feet in each jump. But what made them even more strange was the alligator like tail that allowed the creatures to glide in the sand like lizards.

Now, Tsuna was pretty sure that there were not such kind of creatures outside of weird Sci-fiction novels or pretty messed up cartoons. Then he saw before them a blessed view: a river that cut the dessert in half, making them a way to escape, and with a little luck the things following them would not be waterproof.

"Water! **Jump!**" He wildly managed togive a gesture to Orazio who only nodded back. The river had a pretty strong current so it should help them… if they could survive the fall that's it…

They had managed to almost reach the shoreline when Tsuna heard squealing behind them, and in turn he paled. He had learned to dread such sound in the span of hours, it was coming from the bunnies in the front, whose jaws were open wide where a ball of light was being formed, and he knew from recently and painfully acquired experience that the ball would grow and grow only to become a destructive beam of storm flames, all the while maintaining a squealing cry that hurt the ears and made them dizzy.

Tsuna had been in the range of multiple beam-like attacks and having his own X-burner he could calculate roughly the span of each one, and he knew that they would never be able to run fast enough to reach the river. Taking a second to decide he grabbed Orazio by his wrist and ground his feet in the sand and used their combined weight and momentum to send the other boy sailing through the air, and he would be sure to thank Gokudera-kun for such a useful move latter, then he felt the heat of the beams coming closer and the ground under him groaned at the impact, the metal under the fake desert melting under the heat, sending Tsuna and a dozen of deadly rabbits from hell into a black hole.

Orazio screamed and then had to close his eyes when he crashed into the water, the current quickly dragged his body away.

* * *

Twenty minutes after Spanner had left Reborn (he had to search for his coffee) he found the control room devoid of life, a moment later the door opened revealing the annoyed form of Lal-Mirch and a confused looking Basil, closely followed by Colonello, Shoichi and Gianinni Jr.

"Uh… hello?" Said Spanner in a soft tone, steaming cup of freshly made espresso still in his hands. "**Where the hell is Reborn?!** He was the one to call us here!" Shouted Lal nearly at the point of harming something or someone. Spanner took a step back from her and shrugged, Giannini closed the doors and the cameras went black, then a cheesy music flooded the room and the back of a chair appeared on the screen.

"Hello Angels, here is your mission…" Shoichi gaped at the image and turned around to look at Spanner who only shrugged back. "In an hour approximately the Varia main team will try to interfere with the test, your mission if you decide to accept… and even if you _don't_ accept, is to stop them from interfering until my useless student manages to win this contest. **NO MATTER WHAT**."

The message ended, leaving behind a stupefied silence. "Uh…? Did Reborn-san asked us to stop the Varia? US?!" A panicked Shoichi gasped, his face pale beyond measure. "NO WAY! IS HE OUT OF HIS MIND! UGH!...My stomach…."

"Seems like it Kora! And we have an hour to make our defense plan…Interesting…" Smirked Colonello with a bloodthirsty smile, lovingly stroking his gun. Lal opened her mouth to argue when the screen once more became black, the Varia's coat of arms appearing on the screen, there was a vein appearing on Lal's forehead and a feeling of dread filling her. "VOOOOIIII! Hello there scum!"

The vein on Lal's forehead was now threatening to explode, and she glared at the face of Squalo that was in turn grinning back at her. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" She forced out through clenched teeth, there was a bloody feud between CEDEF and the Varia and it was an unwritten rule that they never interacted face to face if possible. "VOIIII! We have orders to get some rats that infiltrated your recruits! Figures! The CEDEF screwing up again!"

"But we screw up more often than them commander. You're being a Hypocrite." Came the dead tone of Fran on the back followed by the sound of knives flying and hitting their objective. "Senpai, your attack is becoming boring by now!"

"SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU!" Screamed Squalo and turned around to keep his transmission. "We will arrive in an hour, so open the door for us!" Lal growled and punched the table in a fit of anger. "No way! This exercise is under the CEDEF control, and YOU have nothing to do here, WE will deal with the rats!" She screamed with a sneer on her face noting with satisfaction the disgruntled face of Squalo.

"Look WOMAN I'm not askin', I'm ordering you to open the door for us! We have direct orders from the ninth to get those rats, and you will not interfere!" Growled Squalo back giving her his most deprecating look.

"No! Look here you travesty, unless you show me the supposed 'orders' I will not let you through!" She snapped back, flames of rage coming alive at her back. Squalo scowled at her and turned around to scream to someone in the back. "Lussuria! Give me the papers!"

"Mou… You see commander, they were burned in our little… confrontation earlier…" Came the nervous tone of Lussuria followed by the bright and cheery tone of Fran. "Yes, stupid Senpai and his giant rat burned it."

"What did you call my elegant Visone Tempesta?! I, the Prince, will kill you now little toad!"

"I don't care if your poodle ate it, no paper no entry!" Smirked Lal in a satisfied tone. "We didn't receive such an order and the boss is out of town for an important negotiation with another family. Also, the head of CEDEF is out, we can't let you through... so go back to your place like good little children!" She finished with a shooing motion.

Squalo paused for a second, too angry to answer, and lowered his head. "You… dare to order us? YOU?! Go back to your papers and leave this to the real MEN!" He screamed, breaking one of the speakers with his loudness. "Open the damn door or we will bring it down!" He threatened, the flames of wrath also burning behind him.

"HA! _MAKE_ ME! YOU LITTLE GOLDFISH!" Screamed Lal back, not cowed in the least, smoke and flames surrounding her.

"PREPARE YOURSELVES TO DIE TRASH!" Shouted Squalo with his sword pointing at the camera, his face a mask of fury.

"BRING IT ON!" Said Lal, grabbing her AK-47 and proudly posing with it, giving the other a defying pose.

"DON'T COME CRYING WHEN WE TEAR YOUR LITTLE BASE APART!" There was a dark and red aura coming across the camera, the kill intent of Squalo crossing the barriers of space and distance.

"AS IF YOU COULD!" Laughed Lal and shut down the connection, panting and giving him the last word in the screaming match. She looked back to her 'troops' to find them in a corner staring at her in fear and awe.

Lal glared at her and pointed to them with a firm finger. "We have an hour to get ready! MOVE YOUR LAZY ASSES NOW!"

"YES MAM!" They squeaked as everyone was too scared to contradict her and scrambled to the door to make arrangements.

* * *

Meanwhile in Mafia Land….

Timoteo, the Ninth boss of the Vongola sipped his cold beverage and sighed in contentment, at his side his sun guardian munched on a cream filled pastry accompanied with a thoughtful frown. "Boss… Do you think it's alright just to leave them unsupervised?" Asked the sun guardian and received a benign smile from his boss.

"Well… Coyote and Ganauche decided to stay and keep an eye on them, but this is a good training for Tsunayoshi… It will be fine." Reassured the old man, only to receive an incredulous look from his subordinate.

Iemitsu rolled to his front from his sprawled position, his already tanned skin glistening with the body oil. He lifted his sunglasses to look at his boss in worry and slight amusement. "You left the lightning and the storm guardians to keep an eye on them… ?" The ninth nodded and continued to twirl around his glass. "Well, it should be interesting at least…" Replied the sun guardian with a smirk.

* * *

In the deepest part of the fake desert, far from all the teams and problems, there was a small oasis, a small spot of peace and quiet. A circle covered in lush and green grass, with soft and refreshing winds passing through, and a small pond of crystalline water. Truly a small haven in the scorching heat.

Five members of the orange team reached the place with amused grins, they had managed to fool the supposed 'untouchable' CEDEF, they had managed to bypass every security measure and now they would plant their final surprise in the oasis; a poisonous bomb, one that would kill everybody in a five miles range and would be detonated when the allotted time ran out.

"Mora, is everything ready?" Asked the leader, surveying as his minions dug into the sand and planted the bomb, he saw with a pleased face as the sand covered the bomb flawlessly and they prepared to escape the fake dessert, the bomb would self-detonate, so it was crucial that they escaped ASAP. "We have to go, NOW." Whispered the shortest one, looking around over and over again. "We managed to lose the rest of the orange team, but it will be only question of time before they reach this place." One of his teammates groaned and gave him a condescending look. "Chill out would you? We are ready… man! I would love to see the faces of the Vongola when they learn of this!"

"Shut up, both of you! Remove these outrageous clothes and let's get moving!" Barked the leader, ready to leave the crime scene. Suddenly there was a rustling sound in the bushes and the sound of steps coming closer, the leader fingered a gun in his pocket and made a signal to the others to eliminate the unwanted witness.

"Well, well, look what I found. Five little cunning mice… Kufufufu..." With a fast movement the leader shot to the figure, without taking time to comment and not giving the other a moment to react, the figure stumbled once and fell forward, revealing a teenager with blue hair and a long, black trench coat, the top of the hair was styled in a very distinctive style.

"Let's go, we are late already." Growled the man without giving the body behind even a glance, his partners only nodded. "WHAAA!" Screamed one of the men, the tallest of them, as one the other four turned around, guns ready and paled when they saw deformed and giant arms coming out of the dead body and were now dragging the assassin by his feet. "HELP ME! HELP!"

"What the hell?" They fired to the arms, destroying them, but they reformed faster than they could understand, and soon they were left without ammunition. "NO! NO! LET ME GO! **HELP!**" Screamed the man in horror, looking at his comrades with desperate eyes, suddenly, there was a whistling sound and a large and hard coconut hit the man in the face, freezing his body in place and stopping his yelling. The demonic hands disappeared in the air and so did the dead body and a deep and chilling voice filled the oasis. "How dare you to wake me up with your screaming herbivores?!" Hissed the voice, then a black blur descended like an avenging angel directly to the remaining four assassins who gaped and barely managed to try to get into a defending position against the blur of death coming to them. But then it bypassed them completely and collided with a metallic sound with something at the back of their group.

"Kufufufufu… I would apologize, but in order to do so I would need to be sorry for waking you up Mr. Prefect." There was a blurring of the air and then the previously dead Mukuro appeared from thin air. He was holding out a trident and was currently holding it against a pair of tonfas.

The group saw a black haired teenager almost burning with killing intent and a black jacket flying from inexistent breeze. "Just as I finally found an ideal place to sleep, I will bite you to death for this!"

"Kufufufu, but really Kyoya it's been months since we last seen each other. And you won't even give me a hug? How un-cute of you Perfect-san." Said Mukuro in a disappointed tone as if he was reprimanding a nasty child. This only managed to infuriate the perfect even more, making the other snarl at him. "Let me show you how happy I am to see you herbivore." Snarled Hibari, his tonfas gleaming and becoming a blur. They started to fight fiercely, without caring of the uprooted grass and falling palm-trees, the pond was obliterated in seconds, making the oasis a wreck zone. After ten minutes, Hibari finally scored a hit against his rival and sent him flying against one palm tree, making the other grunt in pain at the impact.

Behind them a group of five assassins stood frozen on the spot until the leader reacted and signaled for his team to quietly leave the place. "Hibari, Hibari!" Came a high pitched voice, followed by a strange song that sounded like Japanese or Chinese to the assassins, they saw in panic a cute little bird singing and descending towards them while singing the cheery song. "Shut up you idiot!" Hissed one of the men, backhanding the small bird like a fly and managing to hurt the end of one of his wings with a lucky hit! "Hibird falling, Hibird Falling," cried the bird while making valiant efforts to not crash into the ground.

There was a black blur again and the scary teenager landed flawlessly on the sand cupping in one hand the distressed bird, and leaving him on a fallen tree after inspecting him and finding him with a pair of broken feathers. The teenager whispered a few words to the animal and slowly turned around, glaring at the man on the floor. "I'm going to bite you to death!"

The cloud guardian jumped forwards, his weapons ready and a killing aura enveloped him, the assassins froze at the glare, the killing intent easily freezing the seasoned fighters like cornered deer, but an indigo blur intercepted him, making him jump to the left to avoid being skewered. "Kufufufu I hope you didn't think you managed to defeat me?" Taunted Mukuro a bloodied lip making his smirk darker.

"Uh… You… eh… pineapple guy. You should run now…" Stammered one of the men, who received scandalized and murderous gazes from his partners, suddenly there was not one killing aura, both two, the four men swallowed and one of them wet his pants at the image of two demons in the flesh appearing centimeters away from them. Mukuro smiled widely at the idiot who talked, making him seem even more frightening if possible.

"I propose a little time out Mr. Perfect, just until we kill these annoying things." Whispered Mukuro in a hiss, knocking out with it one of the men.

"Hn…" Grunted Hibari, one tonfa already sending another man into the remains of the pond.

* * *

Olivia was cursing with all her being in a way that would make a hardened sailor blush and stammer. They had lost their two smallest friends and they were being persecuted by some mutant rabbits that were too fast and too evil to be anything more than summons from the deepest and pinkest hell.

They had found part of the black team being cornered by more mutant rabbits and managed to destroy two of them and run away with the help of the rejected members, only to achieve being followed by a new group of rodents from hell.

"What twisted and deranged mind created this?!" Screamed one of the black members in desperation -on the control room three inventors sneezed- running for his life and cursing the day he decided to join the Decimo's force.

"We are trapped!" Screamed Ugo, a metallic wall signaled the end of the fake desert and trapped them against a horde of pink demons. "Run all of you! I will distract them!" Screamed Ugo, using his big body as a barrier. "Don't be an idiot! They are going to kill you!" Screamed his sister. "If you stay I will too!"

"W-we... will fight too!" Screamed one of the men behind them, not ready to give up, a chorus of screams followed, the black team forming a compact group around the two siblings, armed with only guts and large rocks they had picked up, facing a sea of rabid pink fur and deadly teeth.

One of the rabbits jumped, his jaw open with gleaming teeth but before it managed to cover half the distance to its prey in, it suddenly was cut in two by an invisible force. A shadow descending, a gleaming katana reflecting the scorching sun.

"Maximum Cannon!" Came a scream before a single explosion sent the army of rabbits flying through the air, a second figure appeared against the sun, and the two turned around facing the awed group of tired recruits.

"W-who are you?" Whispered one recruit with an awed tone.

"We have come to help you!" Said the first figure with a cheery but confident tone, sheathing his sword with practiced ease.

"YES! We are here to EXTREMELY win this game!" Hollered the second figure but suddenly a third figure appeared punching the screaming one in the head. "You IDIOT! You were supposed to follow Chr… I mean Kiri!(1) WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Screamed the third figure, the group of recruits approached the group finally seeing their saviors, before them stood what appeared to be three men, all of them dressed in gray suits, identical to theirs, but what made them stand out were their heads, covered by masks made of brilliant and metallic fabric, each one in different and bright colors.

"…E-excuse me… but who are you?" Said Olivia eyeing the fabric and too bright mask, one red, one blue and a yellow and golden one that made her squint at the brilliance of it. The man with the blue mask and the one with the yellow one turned around and they both made a dramatic pose and deepened their voices. "We were sent to help you!" Declared the man in the blue mask.

"We are the fighters of justice!" Screamed the man in the yellow mask "I'm THE EXTREMEE! HARE!(1)" He changed his pose and his partner in blue also changed his. "And I am AME!"

"AGH! I can't stand this!" Growled the man in the red mask. He grabbed his two comrades by the scruff of their necks and dragged them away from the shocked and gaping recruits.

Gokudera growled, trying not to blow the other two into tiny little pieces, but barely resisting the urge. "Turf head! What the hell are you doing here?! Where is Chrome?!" Hissed the storm guardian, sweating like mad under the full face mask, making him even more irritable than normal. "Uh?" Asked Ryohei, staring at his fellow guardian, until he seemed to remember something and turned around, running with a speed not supposed to belong to human beings. "I EXTREMELY FORGOOOOT!" He yelled until he vanished into the scorching desert.

"Hum… Do you think that Senpai knows where he is going?" Asked the Yamamoto in a low and concerned tone. "He will make us a favor if he dies in the desert!" Growled the bomb user, wiping the sweat under his neck with a disgusted sneer.

"Ah… excuse us… but really, who are you?" Asked Olivia, warily approaching the strange pair of masked men, the rest of the crowd also staring in suspicion at the pair. "Ha, ha. Sorry, this is Arashi and I am Ame, as we said before we are here to help you!" Said Yamamoto, smiling warmly at the group.

"Hold on, where are the other two that were with you?!" Screamed Gokudera pointing at Olivia and Ugo.

In the Sky the clock marked seven hours left until the time limit.

* * *

This omake is dedicated to my wonderful beta **Shanagi95**, (I hope you like it.)

**OMAKE- MASKED**

* * *

The guardians ran down the stairs, their thoughts filled with worry for their boss. Suddenly Gokudera stopped, making the others crash against him, making a humanball in the stairs, managing to descend the stairs in half of the time it would have taken them while running.

"OI! What the hell was that for? You Octopus-hair!" Complained Ryohei, from the bottom of the pile while Chrome dragged herself out of the middle of the mess,checking and rechecking her body for broken parts. "Shut up turf-head! We have a problem!" Screamed Gokudera untangling his legs from Yamamoto's.

"Oww… problem?" Said Yamamoto, trying to make his shoulder to move in a normal way. "What are you talking about?"

"Our faces! They saw us already before! If we go now they will know who we are! It could blow away the boss' facade!" Said Gokudera with an exasperated tone. "A-ano… perhaps I can use an Illusion?" Said Chrome in a low tone gripping her trident in her hands.

"No… if something disrupts the illusion we will be discovered… we can't take that chance…" Said Gokudera in frustration, punching the wall. "Maybe Spanner has something useful?" Suggested Yamamoto looking up the hundreds of stairs leading to the top.

"We can't lose more time! The boss is out there being attacked by those… things!" Said Gokudera, his eyes frantic while his brain worked overdrive to find a solution. He snapped his head to the right when he heard Ryohei chuckling. "What do you find so funny turf-head?!"

The sun guardian took out from nowhere a large bag, proudly presenting it in a triumphant pose. "HA HA HA! This is a gift from Master Pao-Pao! He said that a fellow coach gave them to him when he defeated him a sumo fight!" Boasted Ryohei, the rest curiously looked as the sun guardian turned around and searched through the bag and took something from it, he turned around again and showed them the results.

"Ah… Senpai… it's very… colorful…" Said Yamamoto in an unsure voice. "Is that a mask of lucha libre?(2)" Asked Chrome in a suspiciously interested tone, little stars on her eyes. "YES! Paco Rodriguez, gave these to Master Pao-Pao! And he gave them to me just in case!"

"HELL NO! I'm not putting on that… that… NO!" Screamed Gokudera, launching himself to Ryohei a dynamite stick in hand to blow up the evil masks, but was stopped by Yamamoto. "Ma, ma, they are not too bad once you get used to them…." Placated the rain guardian.

"THEY HAVE SEQUINS!" Raged the storm guardian, while Chrome admired a purple one, it had swirls and metallic applications of metal. "M-maybe we could use them…" She said in a hopeful tone, clutching the mask against her chest.

"NO, I WOULD PREFER TO DIE!"

"We are wasting time to find Tsuna," reminded Yamamoto, stopping the rampage of his friend who seemed immersed in horrific visions of Tsuna's death.

"You rejected my extreme name for the bug!" Said Ryohei taking out a brilliant red mask, making a signal to Yamamoto to grab the other firmly, Gokudera watched the piece of cloth and the evil smirk on Ryohei's face in horror.

"This will only hurt a little bit…"

"**NOOOOOOOO!**"

* * *

(1) Ame- rain, Arashi- storm, Kiri- mist, Hare- sun. Just their element in Japanese.

(2) For more information on lucha libre mask just search on internet for images, they can talk for themselves... sorry I couldn't resist!.

* * *

So…. Chrome is a closet fan of lucha libre, and finally Hibari shows up. Can I get a review now?


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